Run, survive, avenge
by sissi.huys
Summary: "They're burning it down," answered Septa Janyce, who was starting to sob. "They're burning Aelborough down- Leave, now-or you'll burn with them-" Alexys Blackburn is forced to flee her home. Alone, penniless, she becomes a sellsword 'the Silent Arrow', Kings Landing's nightmare. When she's caught, how will she play the Game of Thrones? *First GoT fic bear with me*
1. Prologue: the sacking of Aelborough

**I was just bored so I wrote this, anyways if you enjoy I'll continue.  
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><p>Prologue: The sacking of Aelborough<p>

"You better damn well shoot straight, Lex!"

"Always, Father," Alexys Blackburn grinned.

She blew a strand of hair out of my face, pulled back the strand of the bow until she felt it against her lip, and let go. The jet-black arrow hit its target.

"Well done, my lady!" shouted Ser Steffon.

He was a kind knight, well in his forties and he was starting to get bald. She had known him my entire life, and he had always felt like a second father to Alexys.

Next to him stood her lord father, grinning and opening his arms for her. She took after him, if you looked at their colouring. They both had the same, queer, blood-red hair colour (although Lord Blackburn only had his beard left to show it) and the same sea-green eyes. Alexys ran into her lord father's arms, he started to laugh, pulling her into an embrace. Alexys had always loved Lord Gareth with all her heart.

Other lords found him a queer one, perhaps even cruel. They found it strange that his daughter had not only her Septa Janyce to teach her to sing, dance and smile, but also Ser Steffon, to teach her how to fight.

Alexys had inquired for his reasons many times, but he always just smiled and answered, "Sweet summer child, Westeros has at least as much cruelties as it has beauties, perhaps even more when winter comes. I would not want my darling daughter to face them defenceless."

Alexys was observant enough to notice other lords and ladies did not agree with his reason. It did not help that House Blackburn was cunning and cruel of nature. They had not much power, but many feared them.

Lord Gareth Blackburn did not believe in mercy, for one, and his punishment were as vile as they were just. Alexys and her brothers and sisters agreed with him.

If a man had committed a crime, he deserved to get a just punishment. If a man had murdered another, the man deserved to get the exact same fate.  
>House Blackburn and its lord and ladies had never been well-liked, for they were not the easiest of men. Alexys knew it. Cynical, offensive, her family was just that. They could not so easily be trusted, as most Blackburns had a talent for scheming and lying.<p>

But she also knew there was more than met the eye, if you were willing to look past that. She could see it in her lord father, who was a very sharp-witted and generous man.

She saw it in her oldest brother, Garrison. He was a tall, broad-shouldered and strong boy of seventeen. He was brute, yes, but had an unbelievable protective instinct. He once killed a man for laying a hand on Alexys's breast.

She had another older brother, Geamon, and he couldn't have been more different from Garrison, but Alexys loved him all the same. Geamon was short, plump and had never bothered to touch a sword. Geamon preferred spending his time reading books and throwing knives. He had a deadly aim. He was a clever lad who was always happy to help, give out advice.

Alexys also had an older sister, Audrea, about to be married to a handsome lord in the Riverlands. Audrea and Alexys looked nothing alike, and they had nothing in common.

Alexys looked most like their lord father, while Audrea was the only child to take after their lady mother.

Lady Rhyssa was from Dorne, fair with olive skin and thick black hair, sleek and shiny. Audrea was a petite girl, not made for fighting (Audrea had grudgingly obeyed to learn which end of a dagger to hold, at the least) whereas Alexys, even though she was barely one-and-ten, was already beginning to develop curves, small breasts and a firm behind for her broad hips. Audrea was also quite tall, but Alexys's body simply did not seem to want to grow sometimes.  
>All of her family lived in Aelborough, the main castle in the Great Forest, the land that separated the Reach from the Riverlands. Alexys had grown up amidst trees and bushes, and had learned to climb a tree sooner after she'd learned to walk.<p>

She would sometimes hunt animals from trees, if she had time. No large game, like Garrison, who often brought huge stags for the cook to magic a meal of. Not foxes, which Geamon managed to target with his knives, in order to fashion coats of their fur, but birds, and if she was lucky, occasionally a rabbit.  
>She shoots them in the eye with an arrow, from the top of a tree, and then cuts their throat to kill them quick.<p>

Alexys had never liked that part. She had tried once to poison the animals, and drain the poison from them afterwards, but the meat had turned foul.  
>She had made the poison herself, from the cursed berry the people from the Forest called 'the Sudden Stop', a black berry which would have killed you before it reached your stomach.<p>

Because of this, the bastards from the Forest were called Berry, which Alexys thought both funny and insulting. She knew bastards grew up faster than legitimate children, thus she had learned to respect them and especially not to underestimate them.

Her Septa woke her up from her thoughts.

"Aren't you hungry, Alexys?"

Alexys shrugged and looked at the plate in front of her. An exquisite meal, she really shouldn't let it go to waste. But for some odd reason she wasn't feeling hungry. She couldn't explain it, but something felt wrong.

About tonight, about everything.

Even though it had just been a day like every other. She stood up.

"May I be excused?"

"Is something amiss, sweet sister?" Audrea asked.

"Nothing special. A tad nauseous, that is all."

"I'll have Maester Filip examine you later, then," said Lord Gareth.

Alexys nodded and went down the stairs to her chambers. They were the lowest chambers, with a beautiful view on the lake in the middle of the Great Forest. She sent out her maids. She didn't feel like having company at the moment.

Alexys peeled off her dress and changed back into her breeches. A bit of hunting might take her mind off things.

The worst of it was, it was merely her gut feeling that was telling her something was off. She was just imagining it, most likely.

It was a cool summer night, only need for breeches and a shirt. The moon was visible in the dark blue sky. All Alexys took was her bow and a couple of arrow, that would be just enough to have a good time. She was all set to leave, but then her Septa rushed into her room. She was wearing her night gowns, and

Alexys blushed, for she had been caught.

"I'm sorry," she apologized quietly, "all I wanted to do was go out in the fresh air, and-"

Something stopped her. Only now she saw how frightened Septa Janyce looked. The Septa moved her hands frantically, dramatically, squeaking only fragments of words.

"Breathe," Alexys pleaded. "Please, Septa- Calm down and tell me what is the matter-"

"They've- they've come," Septa Janyce panted, shaking all over. "They've come to- to take revenge!"

"Revenge?" Alexys breathed. "When? Why? What are they doing?"

There was a loud crack- the glass in the dining room had burst out and she heard Audrea scream. Without thinking, Alexys made to leave her chambers and do something, but Septa Janyce stopped her and roughly pushed her backwards.

"What are you doing?" Alexys shouted. "My sister- she's in distress! I've got to help!"

"You- you have to go," said the Septa, trembling heavily. "Go- Go and take your bow and arrow. If you won't go I won't be able to save you-"

"Who will save them?" Alexys snapped back, pointing towards the door.

She could hear screams coming from the dining room, she had to do something…

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" she screamed at her Septa, almost crying with despair.

"They're burning it down," answered Septa Janyce, who was starting to sob. "They're burning Aelborough down- Leave, now- or you'll burn with them"

Alexys looked towards the door again.

"It's too late," said the Septa. "You can't save them anymore. Be a clever girl and save yourself."

"Come with me," said Alexys.

"I'll fend them off as long as I can," said the woman kindly. "Run, sweetling. Run, survive, and avenge us."

Alexys felt like her sense was leaving her, so she mindlessly obeyed. She climbed out of the window, ran across the open space and climbed in a tree. She saw her home burning. Orange flames were swallowing Aelborough, licking along the towers, making them fall down one by one. She could still see her window, and Septa Janyce. She nodded.

Then men came bursting in, carrying swords and axes.

"Any last words, wench?" said the tallest of them.

Septa Janyce looked at him fiercely, and Alexys had never loved her more than at that moment.

"If we burn, you burn with us."

The tall man laughed and cut her throat. Alexys wanted to scream, but Septa Janyce had given her own life for hers, so it would be a waste. Alexys ran, ran from a destroyed Aelborough, a broken home. She would never forget Septa Janyce's words:

_Run, survive, avenge._

_If we burn, you burn with us._

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><p><strong>*You lot interested?<br>*You like Alexys?  
>*I know the words are from Mockingjay, no rights to them, thought they fit perfectly for OC House Blackburn...<strong>

**Lots of Love**


	2. One: Catching a fathom

**Hi everyone, the first real chapter! I must say this was horrible to write, because a first chapter can make or break a story and this is Tyrion's POV and he's incredibly hard to write. Any tips at all are welcome. Also, I'm writing this simultaneously with a HP fic and that one had priority. Reviews are welcome.  
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><p>One: Catching a fathom<p>

TYRION

"Where are all these Goldcloaks going?" Tyrion asked Jaime curiously. "How many are there?"

"Fifty," said Jaime.

"Fifty?" Tyrion repeated. "What does Robert need so many men for?"

"He thinks he will finally be able to catch the Silent Arrow," answered his brother, running a hand through his golden hair.

"Fifty Goldcloaks for one bastard with a bow and a few arrows?" Tyrion laughed. "That Silent Arrow must have a fair aim, then."

"You know it's more than that," said Jaime. "Robert's been after that man for over a year. We thought we had him thrice before. It was always the wrong man. That sellsword has killed almost half the population of King's Landing."

"Curious enough the people whom he kills always turn out to be rapers, adulterers and thieves. It's still just a man," shrugged Tyrion. "What makes him so hard to catch?"

"No one ever sees him," answered the knight. "Not his clients, not his victims."

"Then how will he communicate with his clients?"

"Notes, signs, arrows," said Jaime vaguely. "It's like catching a fathom."

"My first day in King's Landing," grinned Tyrion sheepishly. "Maybe I bring good luck?"

"Don't make me laugh," mocked his sister, Cersei Lannister.

She had just entered the throneroom, beautiful as ever, wearing an emerald gown to match her eyes, her long golden hair falling over her shoulders like a waterfall.

"You should really have some faith in your Goldcloaks, sweet sister," he grinned.

"That man is way too clever," said a soft voice.

"Lord Baelish," Cersei greeted him coldly.

"Your Grace," Littlefinger half-smiled. "I've been trying to tell Robert from the beginning. Don't make him your enemy. We could have done business with him."

"I won't reason with a sellsword, Littlefinger!" said the King, entered the throne room with large heavy steps, making a lot of noise on the floor. "I don't want a man whose loyalty comes down to how much money I give him."

"So what will you do with him, Robert, my sweet?" said Cersei.

"I'll have him beheaded, like any other murderer."

"If you catch him," Littlefinger smiled dangerously.

That exact moment a dozen Goldcloaks joined them, carrying a struggling girl. She looked no older than twelve. They was no fear in her sea-green eyes, Tyrion noticed. She did look chaotic, her red hair completely dishevelled.

"What happened?" said Robert loudly. "Who is she? Where are the others?"

"We caught her, Your Grace," said one Goldcloak. "As you requested. I present you, the Silent Arrow."

"The girl?" said Jaime disbelievingly.

"Where are the others?" Robert repeated. "I sent out fifty men to catch her_. Where are the others_?"

"Er-" started the Goldcloak, looking nervously toward the others, who kept their mouths shut.

Tyrion wouldn't believe it. They couldn't possibly implying what he thought they were implying, could they?

"Well?" said Cersei impatiently. "Answer your King, sers."

"She- she slew them."

Tyrion started to laugh and Robert went red in the face with anger. The King was outraged.

"How could a girl of ten-and-three possibly slay thirty-eight men of the City Watch? By herself?"

"If you're suggesting I had help, Your Grace, I must disappoint you."

It was the first time the girl had spoken. She had a soft voice, the courtesy of a lady, Tyrion noticed. She couldn't possibly be a bastard girl.

"I have trouble believing a little girl like you slew thirty-eight grown swordsmen, the finest knights in King's Landing after the King's Guard," said the Queen icily.

"She did," said the Goldcloak who had spoken before.

Poor man, thought Tyrion, he'd probably drawn the shortest straw and tell the King the bad news. Then again, they had also caught one of the most notorious sellswords in the King's Landing, perhaps even the Realm.

"What would you have us do with her, Your Grace?"

"I want to have a few answers first, before I decide on the matter," said Robert thoughtfully.

"Ask anything you want, Your Grace, and I swear upon the Seven that I'll speak true," said the girl earnestly.

"What are you called?"

"I've been called many names," the girl said, half-smiling, "the Silent Arrow, the Poison Giant, King's Landing's justice as well as King's Landing's nightmare, but mostly commoners just call me insufferable prick. Assuming, I'm a man, of course."

Jaime, Robert, Tyrion and Littlefinger smiled. The girl had wits about her, even in the face of most certain death. Cersei, however, was far less pleased.

"Your birth name, you stupid girl," she seethed.

"Alexys of House Blackburn, Your Grace."

"Blackburn?" the Queen said, amused. "Blackburn of what was once Aelborough? Varys told me you had all perished."

"Then Lord Varys was apparently mistaken," Alexys Blackburn grinned. "Now, there's a first."

Cersei was certainly not too happy with the girl's smugness, and Robert was growing tired as well.

"So you were alone, no money, no place to live, I get that," Littlefinger mused. "Why not seek another job? Try and find work making clothes, try and become a maid, you could even have worked for me- I know many men who'd have paid a lot for a maid with red hair and full breasts and such a young age. Why choose murder?"

"Are you suggesting I would have done better as a whore?" Alexys Blackburn snapped, then regained her temper, and added, "my lord?"

"Most girls favour it above murder."

"I favour murder."

"And you knew how to do it," said Tyrion, "so it's true you father taught you how to fight?"

"All Blackburns learn how to fight," said Alexys. "Why should it be any different for boys than girls. I deserve to know equally as much."

Tyrion eyed Cersei. Her complexion had changed incredibly. It was recognition. Cersei and this girl shared the same beliefs, only Cersei had never gotten what she wanted.

"You preferred learning to wield a sword to learning a ladies' courtesies?" said Jaime.

"I learned both," Alexys smiled, "lack of courtesy can kill as easily as a sword."

This certainly got everyone's attention. Especially Littlefinger looked amused. Tyrion grinned. This girl _really_ had wits about her.

"Have you got any more questions, Your Grace, my lords?"

The adults all glanced at each other.

"No?" said Alexys. "Good. Then, might I ask you a question, Your grace, my lords?"

The King was lost for words, so he nodded.

"Will you really kill a small- well, I can hardly say innocent- when you might as well put her to work? I can be your sellswords, but I can do many others things than kill, if you like. I teach your sons how to shoot, your daughter as well if you'd let me. I could tell you stories, counsel you…"

"Counsel? You're a damn child!" said King Robert.

"I've flowered, so technically not, and I've seen a lot of the world already, Your Grace," said Alexys curtly. "Also, I'm not stupid. But, of course the matter's up to you, Your Grace. They don't call it the King's justice for nothing. All I ask of you is, be just."

"If I'd be truly just I'd give you to Littlefinger and let you serve the purpose you had wanted to refrain from in the beginning."

"That would be your loss, Your Grace."

"And my gain?" said Tyrion, unable to contain himself.

The girl grimaced.

"You disappoint. It doesn't even surprise me, Lord Tyrion."

King Robert chuckled and Tyrion rolled his eyes. The king looked at the girl with newfound admiration, and his features softened.

"I will accept your offer and accept your service, girl. But you will not sit on the small council."

"This is all I asked for, Your Grace," Alexys smiled.

Tyrion huffed. So this is how you caught a fathom. And this is how a fathom escapes justice.

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><p><strong>More on how Alexys escaped justice next chapter. She'll meet Renly, and another bunch of characters I adore. <strong>


	3. Two: Meeting Renly

**The chapter will keep on getting longer an longer. Note: this fanfic is in the Game of Thrones category, not the song Of Ice And Fire category. Ages, appearance, plots, will be as in the show, not the books. I hope you like it, and if Alexys seemms a bit Mary Sue, that will change later.  
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><p>Two: Meeting Renly<p>

** ALEXYS**

The sunset cloaked King's Landing with an orange glow. It had never looked so beautiful and yet so strange as from the Red Keep. Perhaps this was the first time she had ever been able to truly enjoy it, not living in the shady alleys of Flea Bottom.

A servant girl woke her, another thing she wasn't used to. She had almost attacked her with a knife under her pillow, and it had taken several minutes to the make maid stop crying.

King Robert was actually taking good care of her. After the maid had stopped crying, she had dressed her in smallclothes first, and then an actual lady dress, tight around the waist with a deep cleavage for her breasts. It was a pale blue colour.

The maid had brushed her red hair and braided it, putting a light blue rose in her hair. She didn't know what the rose meant, but if the King requested her to wear it, she would.

To be honest, even Alexys was surprised she had actually gotten the King to take her in. She had guessed either her head off or a presumably miserable lifetime fucking the Imp.

Though she had not find out exactly what her servitude to the King would mean, it surely couldn't be worse than that.  
>Alexys had on purpose decided to break her fast in her chambers, and go out when she had finished. She left and started wandering the many halls of the Red Keep, secretly wondering how she would ever be able to distinguish between them. It was certainly looking like this would be her permanent home.<p>

"Lost, my lady?"

Alexys was too well trained to be startled but wheeled around all the same. A handsome man with short, dark brown hair, a neat beard and brown eyes was looking at her. He wore a green doublet with golden antlers embroidered on it.

She guessed it was Renly Baratheon. Oh, people gossiped a lot about _him_.

"Not all those who wander are lost, Lord Renly."

"Forgive me, my lady, I do not know you," he said.

"You could not have known, my lord," Alexys smiled. "I, er- arrived yesterday. I'm Alexys Blackburn."

"So it is true? I thought Robert was fantasizing."

Then he noticed the blue rose in her hair. He smiled vaguely.

"I already wondered why he would not only spare you, but give you a place in the castle."

So she really didn't do it on charm alone.

"You know him better than me, my lord," she said.

"Are you not curious?"

"If I may be frank, my lord, more than a bit, but I would not force you to divulge anything the King forbade you to divulge."

"You are courteous for a sellsword," Lord Renly laughed.

"I've been told," Alexys said, managing a smile.  
>It would take a while for the inhabitants of the Red Keep to forget the sellsword and start seeing the Lady of Aelborough. It was hers by right.<br>Oh, what a cruel jape of the gods, she thought. Lady Blackburn owns a castle that perished in flames.

"The King awaits you in the yard," said Lord Renly.

"I know, my lord," she answered.

"But do you know how to get to the yard, my lady? I would not blame you if you did not, the Red Keep can be very confusing to those new to it."

Alexys flashed him a genuine smile now. She had initially been a bit wary about everyone at court, but she had the strangest sensation that Lord Renly was completely trustworthy.

"You would not happen to know the way to the yard, Lord Renly?" she asked him timidly.

He stuck out his arm for me to take. "If it please you, my lady."

Alexys smiled and took his arm, letting Renly show her the way to the yard, whilst chatting merrily to him. She found the lord of the Stormlands a good companion.

"Have you ever been to the Stormlands?" Lord Renly asked.

"No, my lord, I never have been outside the Great Forest in my entire life, at least not until I journeyed straight to King's Landing," she answered. "But my Septa used to tell me stories about all the Kingdoms. The Stormlands sounded beautiful. I would love to visit them."

"Well, if you want beauty, you should visit Highgarden," he laughed. "But maybe one day I could take you to see both Highgarden and Storm's End. Would you like that?"

"If His Grace would let me, I would be most honoured, my lord," Alexys said. "You are most kind."

"And then?" asked Renly. "When you've seen the Stormlands and the Reach?"

"I would wish to journey to the North, the Iron Islands, the Riverlands, the Vale, the Westerlands and Dorne."

Renly Baratheon's laugh echoed through the halls.

"You are an ambitious little lady, Lady Alexys."

"I may be small, but I am not little, Lord Renly. I don't believe in stories nor in songs," said Alexys stiffly. "Not anymore."

"My apologies, my lady," said Renly quickly, and he sounded truly sorry. "I did not mean to offend you."

"The fault is on my, Lord Renly," said Alexys quickly, shaking her head. "I should not have acted as such. Grudges of the past should not cloud my present, nor my future. My life is here now, in King's Landing, and not in the ruins of Aelborough or Flea Bottom."

"It is," agreed Lord Renly. "And your life will be better here, my lady. Ask me anything, and I will give it to you if it is within my power."

"You are most kind, my lord," she smiled, squeezing his arm affectionately. "If you should require any of my services, come to me."

At that moment they entered the yard, and Alexys saw the King and what she supposed were his children. Two boys, one tall and slim, the youngest plump and short. The princess was sitting a little more in the distance, chatting with one of her little friends.

The eldest prince was holding a crossbow, aiming at the stuffed puppet across the yard. He missed. And not closely.

The King spotted us an began to laugh, lifting his cup, spilling a little wine. He was at least a merry man, bringing it nicely, Alexys thought.

Geamon had told her of how a young, broad, strong Robert Baratheon conquered the Eight Kingdoms- they were still the Eight Kingdoms before the Great Forest got burned down- and he could lift a huge warhammer. Alexys could not see him do that now.

"Renly! You weren't stealing the girl, were yeh?" the King said, still laughing.

Renly's smile was a bit sour.

"Of course not, Your Grace, I escorted the young lady to the yard. She had trouble finding it herself. I found her wondering near my chambers on the other side of the castle."

"Ah, very well, very well," said the King. "You hating the place as much as I do already, girl?"

Alexys wanted to grit her teeth but she kept her face natural. She hated being called girl as if she were a nobody. At least Lord Renly had remembered to use a title fitting her; a lady.

"I am sure it is just a matter of getting used to it, Your Grace," she answered with a little smile.

King Robert spotted the rose and his gaze softened into something more emotional; if Alexys was not mistaken she thought to see his eyes get watery. He then sighed and shook his head, turning to Renly.

"Haven't you got better things to do, brother?"

"I have, Your Grace," said Lord Renly curtly and he walked away as fast as he could without looking like running.

The boy with the crossbow was also studying Alexys now, his eyes moving shamelessly up and down, stopping at her breasts and up again.

"And who are you?"

"This is Lady Alexys, son," said the King. "She's come into my service recently. She can help you shoot."

"But you're a girl," said the youngest prince, "my lady," he added, blushing.

Alexys decided she liked the younger boy way better than his older brother. She bend her knees a little so she could look the younger boy in the face. He was plump, a little red-faced, but had a pretty mop of golden curls and emerald eyes.

"I am, little prince," she said softly. "But my lord father thought it was important I had training, same as my older brother and my big sister."

Tommen nodded.

"So will you also teach Myrcella and me or only Joffrey?"

"Whatever you father wants, little prince," Alexys answered.

She looked up to the King.

"Teach Joff, Myrcella and Tommen are too young," he said, and Alexys nodded.

She looked towards the elder prince.

"Would you have me teach you, Prince Joffrey?"

Joffrey hesitated, then gazed upon her breasts, and his handsome face spread into a cruel grin. Another one the mob had told enough stories about.

"You will need to start with a regular bow, then, my prince," Alexys said, trying not to sound too bossy.

The last thing she wanted was to anger the prince right in front of the King. She felt like she was already stretching her luck. Prince Joffrey grudgingly obeyed her order and had his squire fetch two regular bows and a dozen arrows.

"Would you show me how you shoot?" Alexys asked Joffrey somewhat shyly.

The prince shot again at the puppet and missed again.

"You think too much," she analyzed.

"Like you can do it any better," he huffed.

Challenge accepter, she thought. She stroked the feather of her arrow, placed it on her bow in a swift motion, pulled the string till it nearly cut her lip and then let go. The arrow hit the puppet straight through the brains.

"You think too much," I repeated to Prince Joffrey. "Aim with the arm you're holding the bow with, not the one you're shooting with. Hold the arrow in between your middle finger and your index finger, pull the string to your upper low and release quickly. Don't hold it too long, my prince."

She could see Joffrey did not like the way he was commanded, but he saw his father look at him so he obeyed. He shot a second arrow and it still missed the puppet, only slightly.

"That is way better, Prince Joffrey!" Alexys said happily, and the prince managed a small smile.

The boy was easily manipulated. Alexys did some quick thinking. The more friends at court, the better. She caught him staring at her breasts again. Nothing more annoying that a young prince going through puberty, she thought, but also nothing more helpful at the moment.

"If you'd let me," she said timidly, faking a shy smile, taking the bow from the prince.

She placed a new arrow between her fingers and stood in shooting position. She grabbed his hands and placed them upon hers, forcing him to stand closer. She could feel him get hard against her bum, and she tried to ignore it.

"Watch closely," she whispered.

She shot this arrow into the first one, making it split. She moved away and handed Joffrey his bow back, and a new arrow, and he shot again. He hit the puppet's abdomen.

"You're talented," Alexys said, fake-fondly.

This was going to be a long shot, Alexys knew, but she would try to raise as high as possible here. From sellsword, to royal- whatever she was. Maybe her next step would be trying to have a word with Lord Varys.

He would know who had burned her home. Her family.

A Blackburn did not forgive, a Blackburn did not forget. Run, survive avenge. Since she was still alive, only the latter was left to her.

If we burn, you burn with us.

These rogues could expect some fire.

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><p><strong>Reviews are very much appreciated. <strong>


	4. Three: a Spider and a Mocking Bird

**This chapter is again a bit longer, this fic will go into more depth each chapter and Alexys will develop lovely relationships with some characters, I'll try not to make her a Mary-Sue, and I hope you'll bear with me till the end.  
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><p>Three: A Spider and A Mocking Bird<p>

**ALEXYS**

The next morning was as relaxed as those before. Alexys would be woken by one of her handmaidens, eat a rich meal, let her maids dress her in the prettiest dresses, wore a blue rose in her hair for the King, and survive another day at court.

Alexys had been up in the Red Keep for a week now.

Until now, it had been easier than she could ever have dreamed. She would smile, curtsy, make all the high lords and ladies laugh, teach Joffrey how to shoot, amuse the King with a story at dinner, sleep, and repeat.

She had not seen a chance to get involved with the small council yet, but she was working her way up. Prince Joffrey, King Robert, Lord Renly, she was all set to wrap them around her fingers.

This morning altered from the previous ones, though. Once she was dressed, an unknown, unimportant young mad dressed in cheap armour came to tell her Lord Baelish and Lord Varys requested her presence. Alexys could not be more pleased.

They were clearly the most devious men in King's Landing, and she could not find any better partners in crime. She would avenge her family, but first she needed to know who had burned them.

She dismissed the knight, telling him she'd be with both lords in a short while, rearranged her hair for one last time and set off. Renly had shown her the entire keep one afternoon, and Alexys was actually starting to figure out where she needed to go.

But then, her attention went to the voices that could be heard from behind a closed door. It sounded like the King and Queen.

"What a cruel jape it is, Robert," the Queen spat. "You must be really determined to make my life as miserable as possible."

"Alexys has done nothing wrong. I thought you said you liked her spirit, woman."

Why were they talking about her? Cersei sounded absolutely furious. What had Alexys done to provoke her?

"The _rose_, Robert. You put a blue rose in her hair. Did you actually think I am that stupid? Did you actually think I couldn't make the link between her and the Stark girl?"

Alexys heard footsteps moving toward the door, so she lifted her skirt and ran as fast as her legs could carry her. That was why dresses were never her first choice. They slowed her down incredibly.

She donned a dark green cloak and went out in the street, feeling very aware of the dagger strapped to her right leg. The King wouldn't allow her to carry weapons but Alexys simply refused to go out without any. It made her feel naked and vulnerable.

Littlefinger's whorehouse was not very hard to miss. Alexys made to knock on the door, but a fair exotic young girl opened it before she could. The girl had bronze skin, big brown eyes and hair as black as ravens. She was scarcely wearing anything and her gown was cut so that she showed one nipple.

Alexys had a weird sensation in her belly; she must just have been uncomfortable seeing another girl doing what she had been trying to avoid so badly.  
>The whore looked surprised but not uncomfortable.<p>

"Forgive me, my lady," she said with a thick foreign accent. "I've pleased women before; but never this young."

Alexys felt herself blush.

"I have an appointment with Lord Baelish," she stuttered.

"This way, my lady," said the foreign girl, stepping aside and letting her in.

Littlefinger's brothel was a fancy one, Alexys had to admit, but she couldn't help the strange sensation going through her entire body as she let every inch of every room sink in. She'd paid a price for not having to work here. The price had been murder.

Alexys did her very best to look past the whores, trying to spare their privacy, but the whores seemed to want exactly the opposite. Half of them eyed her suspiciously, as if she were a whore herself, the others gave her curious glances, thinking she was a customer.

Though she had suspected not to be the first woman to walk into a brothel, she still felt a bit offended.

Her train of thoughts was put to a stop by Lord Littlefinger. He was a short man, with black hair that was starting to turn grey at his ears, piercing grey-green eyes and a devious smirk. He wore a plain black doublet with a silver mockingbird pin on it.

"A mockingbird, my lord?" she asked, somewhat amused. "That's not the sigil of House Baelish is it?"

"It is not," answered Lord Baelish curtly. "However, it has come to my notice that you yourself have been using not your black flame on red, but a sigil with a white fox on black?"

"I must disappoint you my lord," Alexys retorted. "But some rumours are merely rumours. I have not been using a different sigil, however my brother Geamon did use to call me 'little fox' when we were kids."

"How very interesting, my lady," smiled Littlefinger, "so I take it you inherited your father's talent for scheming?"

"A talent which you must surely know to appreciate, Lord Baelish," she answered, flashing him a cheeky smile.

"But we did not come here to discuss such matters, while I do not doubt it would have been more than adequately amusing."

Alexys was somewhat startled by the eunuch's soft voice. He wore a purple sort-of gown and wore a hood over his bald head. He made no move to take it off, even when she had taken off hers and let her red hair flow over her shoulders.

"Forgive me, Lord Varys, I had not yet seen you," said Alexys, doing a curtsy.

"Sit, my lady," said Littlefinger, gesturing to a chair. "Should I have one my girls bring you some wine? I have very good ones. Dornish red, perhaps?"

"Why, my lord, do you think I will be easier to negotiate it after a few cups of wine?"

"It is a trick he plays on most men, my lady," said Varys, smiling. "Mostly he offers them one of his girls as well."

"Then again, I'm not a man, am I, my lords?" said Alexys. "May I inquire for your reasons of summoning me here?"

"Both Lord Baelish and I feel we are natural allies, my lady."

"What could the Master of Whisperers and the Master of Coin ever want of a simple ex-sellsword?" she asked, with mock-modesty.

"I think the more important question is what you could want from us?" asked Littlefinger.

Alexys frowned. There were more than a few things she could want from them, but she was old and wise enough to know these favours would require repayment, in some form or another.

"What do you want in return?" she asked sharply.

The Spider laughed.

"You are most wise, my lady. But fret not. We would not ask more of your than tell of the on-goings in the Red Keep once in a while."

"So, in other words, you would have me spy on the King?"

Alexys did not like the sound of that. The King saved her life, took her in, was so incredibly good to her, better than she deserved to be treated, honestly, and now they asked her to spy on him?

"So," she continued, starting to get a bit angry, "you would have me spy on the man who let my escape from the King's Justice, and not only let me escape but took me in, fed me, clothed me, and has only ever been good to me?"

"And does my lady know why?" asked Lord Littlefinger, and she saw his eyes move up to the blue rose in her hair.

"Does it matter, my lords?" Alexys inquired, but she was starting to get a bit curious as well.

She took the rose from her hair, laid in her lap and stared at it, stroking the flower with her fingers.

"Does the name Lyanna Stark mean anything to you, my lady?"

_Lyanna_ Stark. The Stark girl. The name itself meant nothing to Alexys, except for the fact that the King and Queen were arguing over her this morning. Alexys shook her head.

"Rhaegar Targaeryen abducted her, for she was his queen of beauty," Lord Varys explained. "She was Robert's intended. He loved her very dearly. He started a war for her, later known as Robert's Rebellion?"

"Should not every child know that story?" asked Littlefinger.

"Forgive me, my mind becomes so occupied at times I just choose to forget thing that are not of value," said Alexys coolly.

"And this is not a thing of value?"

Lord Baelish looked way too amused for Alexys' liking.

"How will knowing how our King ended up on the Throne help me in surviving in Flea Bottom, or even getting to Flea Bottom in the first place?" asked Alexys. "But the girl, Lyanna. So, Robert loved her. What has that got to do with me? If she was a Stark, I can't resemble her much. The Starks, with their long solemn faces and serious grey eyes look nothing like the red-headed green-eyed people of the Great Forest."

"It was not your face that remembered him of her, my lady," said Varys. "Lyanna Stark was a fierce little thing, riding, shooting, even a bit of sword-fighting…"

"So that was why the Queen was cross with him," Alexys said aloud.

"I thought my lady said she did not fancy spying on her beloved King Robert?" smirked Lord Baelish.

"I was _not_ spying, _my lord_," said Alexys, gritting her teeth, "I just overheard."

But then a sudden moment of fear got hold of her, clenching her insides like a cold, stone fist.

"So, does that mean," she started, slowly, "does that mean I could have just started working in Lord Baelish's whorehouse, because the King will take my maidenhead either way?"

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><p><strong>Reviews are always welcome. And about the pairings, as canon as possible unless Alexys objects.<br>You can count on:  
>-LorasRenly  
>-JaimeCersei  
>-NedCat  
>-LittlefingerLysa**


	5. Four: The King's Little Fox

_**Four: the King's Little Fox**_

**ALEXYS**

Both lords remained silent. Silence seemed to be worse than a confirmation out loud, or an obvious lie.

"At least you're not lying," Alexys said, her shaking hands nearly ruining the rose.

"I can never be sure, my lady," said Varys, trying to make some sort of apology, she supposed.

"You're the Master of Whisperers, my lord!" she shouted. "You're supposed to know everything!"

She was losing her temper. She shouldn't have shouted like that. She should have just remained composed and calm. She was here to do business, wasn't she? But the thought of King Robert wanting her in his bed…

"It would've made no difference to coming here right away," she said coolly.

"You are still very welcome," said Littlefinger.

Alexys was simply not in the mood for these sort of jests right now. She gave him a sour smile. She was plainly terrified. She had always been able to find a solution for things in King's Landing, but she saw no way of escaping this with her maidenhead, or her head in general.

When she was too poor to buy her own food she started killing. When people had started to get suspicious, she used the 'Sudden Stop' and made it into a little poisonous juice that she would just dip tiny arrows in, so tiny they you could have used them for picking your teeth, and they fell out after, and no one would find them.

The poisonous arrows, the most effective, were the cheapest because she had to get nowhere near the victim and there would be no traces that could lead to her, or where she'd shot from.

The most expensive kills were those where she would just cut a person's throat and leave them to bleed. If the customer wanted to send a message. Alexys had done only a dozen of such kills, and only in the beginning. She was known for her shooting.

Even before King's Landing she had always been quite able to solve her own issues, deal with them while not burdening anyone else with them. But now she was clueless. She sat frozen on her seat.

"Well, I can't stay away forever," Alexys said, slowly getting up and putting up her hood.

Both lords were looking at her as if she was joking.

"I don't like the prospect of losing my head but it can't be worse than losing my pride. Besides, I've run from death before so who's to say I can't do it again?"

"My lady, that is either very brave of very foolish," said Lord Varys. "You're certainly not going to confront His Grace?"

"I think I am, my lord," Alexys said fiercely, becoming more and more certain of her decision. "If you are wrong he'll just laugh and we forget the matter. And if you're right-"

She did not want to finish her sentence, but she felt like it spoke for herself.

She most desperately wanted to be as brave as Lord Gareth or her brother Garrison at the moment. Though the other houses had always seen House Blackburn as a cowardly house, because they fought with tricks rather than in an honest, proper battle, but her father had always told her that Blackburn courage was a different kind of courage.

"Blackburn courage is about daring to do whatever needs to be done," her father had learned her. "Not being afraid about what the consequence of your actions might be, or what others might think. You need to do what is right for _you and you alone_."

The sun was setting when Alexys was back in the Red Keep, colouring its chambers and corridors in a blood-red glow.

"Alexys! 'Lexys! C'mere girl, c'mere!"

The shout came from the room one her left she had just passed. It was King Robert's voice, and he was hiccupping constantly. He must be very, very drunk.

_This is not the best to come bursting in and make him confess, is it?_ a voice in her head said, but Alexys knew if she didn't tell him now she'd never find the courage again.

Alexys entered the room and straightened her gown. King Robert, First of his name, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, Protector of the Realm and all the rest of it, was sitting was his breeches loose and a shirt so short and tight his belly popped out underneath.

His hair was a mess, he was slouching in his chair, and he held a glass of wine in one hand, and he waved it around like a madmen, so half its content spilled on the floor.

Alexys acted impulsively and went to him and took the glass of wine from him and put it on the table. She was close enough to Robert for him to grab her arm and yank her toward him.

"You want some wine too, girl? It'll be easier when you've had some. Everything's easier with wine."

His breath smelled of wine, and she could still see bits of food in his black beard. Fear took hold of her and she was scared to say anything. All she wanted was to get out of here straight away.

"You should not have any more, Your Grace," said Alexys, "should I call servant girls to clean up?"

"Servant girls," the King said softly, rolling his head from side to side, and pointing violently, with his free hand. "I fucked four of them this morning. The day before I had three. Three blondes ones, pretty ones."

"What about Her Grace?" said Alexys fervently. "Your wife?"

"It was all about the money," he said, shaking his head. "All about the damn money, I never loved her, no, gods no."

"And what about Lyanna Stark?" she said, not knowing what made her do something as stupid as say her name.

Robert stopped pointing and looked up at her, his eyes getting wet. The sight of him reminded Alexys of a sad, bearded pig.

"I don't even remember what she looks like," he said, and she had never pitied him more than at that moment.

She nearly forgot how frightened she was of him, forgotten how he was planning of fucking her like all the servant girls, until he pulled her arm again and forced her on this lap.

Alexys was struggling to get away until Robert started sobbing violently, shaking like mad, and she froze on the spot.

"I miss her every waking moment, and Rhaegar haunts my dreams," he said, his face twitching with fury, before turning miserable again. "Don't you miss her?"

'Why would I miss her' would have been most rude to say to a drunken sobbing king, at the time, while Alexys was completely puzzled at why she should ever have missed the Stark girl. She was dead before her own time.

"I never got to know her, Your Grace," Alexys said carefully, only too aware of Robert's stinking breath and his belly against her.

"I used to have forgotten what she looks like," the King started, "but when I look at you, I remember, girl. I remember."

"But I don't look anything like her, Your Grace," she pleaded for him to understand. "I've got red hair, green eyes, and Lyanna had dark hair and grey eyes."

But this only seemed to make King Robert more miserable. He didn't want to look at her anymore, shoved her off his lap, stood up and poured more wine into his mouth.

"Your Grace," Alexys said slowly, "you really shouldn't. I'll get someone- _anyone_- the Maester, Grandmaester Pycelle, he could bring you milk of the poppy!"

Then Robert burst out in anger and threw the cup against the wall, it splattered in a rain of glass and wine. Alexys was now even more terrified, and she felt her hand move toward her leg to get her sword. But then Robert said something that made her pause:

"You better listen to your damn father, girl!"

Father? Did she hear that correctly? Did he call himself her father? There was no way Robert was her father, since she took after Lord Gareth.

_Don't you miss her?_

She suddenly remembered. Why would I miss her? She was in no way related to me. It took Alexys only a moment to figure out the rest. She didn't know whether she found it sad of pathetic. A bit of both, most likely.

It was in no way rational that Robert though of her as his and Lyanna's daughter, it was naught but a somewhat sick fantasy of a broken man. Alexys' behaviour may have reminded him of both himself and the She-Wolf a little, but no normal man would have fooled himself like that.

But her human instinct told her she was in no position to confront the King with that in his drunken state, so for now, she just decided to play along with him.

"My sincerest apologies, Father," Alexys said solemnly, taking his hand, which was still high in the air.

The King seemed to calm down a little, the tears stopping and his face turning from purple to normal again.

"Lyanna was always so hot-tempered, girl," Robert said, seeming to calm down and even become a bit drowsy. "You're just like her."

"I know, Father, thank you, Father," she uttered, and the King was starting to doze off. "Let me take you to bed."

Robert was conscious enough to just lay down but he had fallen asleep right after. He looked like a fat, bearded child. Oddly enough Alexys felt herself smile and she put a blanket over him.

He's a good man, though he is a lonely man. _If he wants me to be his daughter I'll be his daughter_, she thought, _because a princess deserves a better task than telling stories. _

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><p><strong>Hope it's not too bizarre, reviews are welcome<strong>


	6. Five: A Feast For Lions

**Hi everyone. I know it's been ages and as much as I would like to apologize for the long wait, you must understand it has been really hard for me to try and keep this up with one review****. I'm not very fussy about the numbers I get, but I still find that is helps me write faster and gives me more inspiration. So it would help very much if after a couple of days there would be more than one review there. Thanks. **

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><p>Five: A Feast For Lions<p>

ALEXYS

The morning after, it almost seemed like nothing had changed. But then Alexys remembered the Red Keep had eyes and ears everywhere, and that her business with the King could not have gone unnoticed.

When she woke up, she let one of her handmaidens brush her hair and dress her, choosing for a plain green dress, to match her eyes. For the first time, she made the decision to leave the rose behind.

_I'm not Lyanna_, she thought, Robert should learn to accept that. I don't even look like her.

Alexys did not really feel like seeing the King. Last night's events had confused her so much she had quite lost her appetite. Besides, facing nearly all of the court today after what had happened-

She knew they knew. In King's Landing there existed no such thing as secrets, she had learned that long ago. Not even her sell-sword persona had survived long. Long enough to make quite a bit of money, though.

No, attending court was not a wise idea, not today at least. Maybe a bit of fresh air would do her good. She could stroll around the rose garden Lord Renly had showed her. The Lord of Storm's End was fond of roses more than any man she's ever known.

Sure, Geamon had always been fascinated by plants, especially poisonous plants, or plants you could use for cooking or health purposes, but she had never met a man who adored _flowers_.

It did not make Alexys like him any less, though. She was not as close to him yet, not close enough to trust him but she hoped that when he offered to take her with him to Highgarden one day he meant it.

Perhaps there would come a day when she could trust him. Of all these people here, he seemed the one who was least likely to give you a stab in the back if you weren't watching closely enough. Entirely coincidentally her mind went off to the Lannisters. There were two of them in the Red Keep at the time, and three little Lannister-Baratheons.

The weather outside was calm, not too hot and not too cold, with the sun shining and a cool breeze hung in the air. Protected by rose bushes as either sight of her, for the first time in years Alexys felt safe and sound again.

She stood still, closed her eyes and inhaled and exhaled deeply. Alone. Finally.

"Lady Alexys?"

_Who in Seven Hells is that?_

Alexys wheeled around a little too sharply, and perhaps her facial expression was slightly more grumpy than it should have been, because Lord Renly's smile disappeared from his face and he said quickly, "I did not mean to interrupt you, my lady."

"Oh- Lord Renly, what a coincidence," Alexys said, forcing herself to smile and sound happy. "I was merely startled. I did not expect to run into anyone this early in the morning."

"Ah, it's just the crack of dawn, isn't it?" he smiled. "I always find that a morning stroll through the rose garden helps me relax. Sometimes I take my squire with me, Loras Tyrell. You must know him."

"Er-" Alexys could not stop the cheeky smile from appearing on her face. She gave Renly a sideways grin and replied, "I've heard of him."

A very relaxing stroll must that be. Protected by the rose bushes on either side, indeed. Alexys had never been the one to believe in gossip. But she had learned from a very young age it was possible- not only women could fancy men.

She knew it occurred with every man out of ten, but she never had understood it. What she did understand was that it was not something to be proud of.  
>Oh, she would never forget her brother's face, chalk-white, his lip trembling.<p>

A silence had fallen between Lord Renly and her, a silence she could not quite explain.

"You are wearing a lovely gown," he said. "The colour suits you."

"Well, we match," she giggled. "This is all thanks to your brother's generosity."

"Look," he started, softly, too softly. "I've heard about what when down in his chambers last night. All the important lords and ladies at court know. I'm afraid I will have to apologize for his behaviour, since-"

"He's the King," Alexys said. "He doesn't have to apologize for anything."

"The Queen won't be too happy about this, my lady," Renly warned her.

"Is she afraid I'll grow more powerful than her?" she nearly laughed. "If she thinks I'll make good use of the situation she's not wrong, but I wasn't hoping to receive the Iron Throne."

Lord Renly laughed, and Alexys looked at him, dazzled. She had almost forgotten how handsome he was. If he laughed his eyes really lighted up and it finished the look on his already handsome features.

"You might grow more powerful than she wants you to be, though," the lord continued, on a more serious tone.

Her laughter echoed through the garden.

"Baby steps, my lord," Alexys said cheerfully, "baby steps."

After a little while chatting with Renly, the rose garden ended and she found herself back at the entrance. She was surprised to see she and Lord Renly were not alone anymore.

A young, Lannister boy with thin yellow hair, whom Alexys believe was called Lancel, nodded his head (it was obvious he did respect her enough to bow to her, but found it rude to do nothing) asked in a light voice, "Her Grace and Lord Tyrion invite you to have supper with them."

"Supper?" said Alexys, not able to hide the surprise in her voice.

She looked at Renly, who appeared just as startled as she was, and perhaps a little concerned as well.

"I would be very honoured to have supper with them," she said, not wanting to let Lancel wait for her response too long.

"Very well," he said, before pausing long, "I shall escort you."

He was not quite sure whether he had to stick a 'my lady' in there somewhere. He'd learn she was a lady soon enough, Alexys thought.

Suddenly feeling, very, very glad she had left her blue rose behind that morning, she followed Lancel to a part of the castle she had never seen before.  
>It had no ceiling, so you could just look up at the sky and feel the sun shine down on you. It looked like a miniature square, with a large table in right in the middle of it.<p>

Queen Cersei was already seated. Alexys performed her best curtsy and she politely said, "I was very honoured to receive your invitation, Your Grace."

"Sit," said the Queen, smiling at her in a way Alexys just knew it was fake and gesturing to the chair closest to her. "Lord Tyrion will be joining us in a very short while, he's assured me."

Alexys sat down on the chair that was appointed to her, nervously flattening her dress. Cersei Lannister herself had already poured her a cup of wine, and Alexys realized there were no servants around. Whatever this was, it was too important for servants to overhear. That did not really lighten the mood.

"You are a beauty, do you know that?" Her Grace said sweetly. "A queer beauty, with your colouring, yes, but a beauty all the same."

"Thank you, Your Grace," Alexys heard herself reply, her body numb with fear.

She had yet to find out why having a conversation with Cersei Lannister frightened her more than being hunted after by a fifty men of the City Watch, or murdering men thrice her size.

"You would have no problem finding yourself a handsome lord to marry, if it were only for your looks," the Queen continued, her voice as sweet as poisoned honey. "Blackburn, your last name, that might cause some trouble. Perhaps some may find it endearing, to marry the last of a bloodline. But a girl with no property and a name that most men despise… I suppose that was why Robert took you in."

"It might be," Alexys replied, finding it wiser to lie than tell the Queen of Robert connected her to Lyanna Stark.

There might have been some truth in what Lord Renly said. Her Grace would not have Alexys become more powerful than her.

"Did he not tell you why he showed mercy to you?" Cersei asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

It become more and more difficult not to tell the truth, or rather spit the truth in the Queen's face. Especially after the words about Alexys' family, which stirred some deeply concealed hate inside her.

"Don't ask her not pretending to know," said a voice from behind her.

Alexys looked over her shoulder and recognized the Imp, waddling to the chair next to her and seating himself in it.

"My lord," she greeted him.

"My lady," he greeted back.

Somehow the title brought a smile to her face. Titles used to mean nothing to her, but it was nice to know some people started to see her for what she was, instead of King's Landing's nightmare.

"So I suppose one of Lord Varys' little birds told you about the happenings of last night, Your Grace?" Alexys asked, feeling more confident.

Though she had intended the question to be as polite as she possible could be while still being honest, as sudden as the wind Cersei's mood turned around as she saw the Golden Queen's lips purse and her emerald eyes glare.

"You're an insolent little wench, aren't you?" she spat.

"Your Grace, I meant you no offense," Alexys protested, but Her Grace overruled her.

"You're just like your scheming evil father with his lies and secret plots," she snapped. "Do you really think I'm as stupid as to believe you when you pout and stutter you mean me no offense. Don't think I don't know what you're up to."

"I'm sorry you think that way about my lord father, Your Grace, but even without considering if these stories or true or not, I am _not_ _him_," Alexys said. "I do not have any plans, besides finding a way to thank King Robert for his mercy and generosity-"

"Didn't I tell you I had you all figured out?" Queen Cersei snarled. "You don't have to lie and pretend anymore. If you think you can find a way to become more powerful than any of my own children-"

"Sweet sister, be reasonable," Lord Tyrion pleaded. "Lady Blackburn is only a child, naught but grateful for the way Robert took her in when she had nothing and no one. She will not plan to overthrow you and take the Iron Throne for herself."

"She is not a child anymore, she's bled and so is a woman grown," Her Grace countered. "Besides, she's a woman grown who has been trained to her by her sick little family since she could stand, not to mention she's good at it."

Alexys watched furious and open-mouthed as the argument went from her and the Queen to Lord Tyrion and the Queen.

"If I recall correctly you were always mad at our lord father because he would not let you practise with swords like Jaime would," the dwarf said.

"That is not my point," Cersei Lannister said, flushing to Alexys' content. "My point is that she is a Blackburn, and Blackburns are never satisfied."

"I was quite satisfied, actually, before strange men decided to burn Aelborough to ashes!" Alexys heard herself shout.

Her expression had turned sour, so she rose, did a curtsy, and left, her dress floating behind her as she speeded up. Lord Renly had been right. He was the only person in this wretched keep she could trust.


	7. Six: A Change of Heart

**I'm so sorry that this took me so long but the next chapter is nearly finsihed and it should take less longer than this one. I already warned you guys in advance this wasn't my priority fic, because there is less of an audience for this... Anyway, enjoy and I would be very pleased to receive some review and hear your guys' opinions!**

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><p><strong>Six: A Change of Heart<strong>

ALEXYS

The next morning the inevitable had happened.

"Your Grace," Alexys breathed.

Robert had surprised her, for she had been staring out of the window, watching the sun rise. She had turned around and was pleased to see he was fully clothed and sober.

"Spare me the courtesy, girl, I'm here to apologize," he said, and she noticed his eyes were watery again. "I don't know what you must think of me, with my behaviour."

Alexys inhaled and bit her lip.

"I think we're quite alike, actually," she admitted. "We both know what it is like to lose those who are most dear to us."

She felt herself smile, and added innocently, "I suppose in combination with Dornish red that can make us behave oddly sometimes."

That made the King laugh.

"You must understand, girl, I never used to like your house. Barely anyone did," he explained. "You were as cruel as the Boltons but with more power, they told me. But knowing you- I am starting to doubt how much truth there was to the rumours."

It was phrased as a question, but Alexys knew she had to give him a straight answer. Knowing that most rumours were more than rumours, she just said, "All my father's actions may seem queer or even cruel in another's eyes, but if no one knew his motives..."

"It's all right, girl," he said. "Finish the sentence, I won't have your tongue for it, I'm not a madman."

"If no one knew his motives, I believe no one had the right to judge."

"He raised you like a fierce little thing, did he not?" Robert laughed. "I suppose there is truth in what you say. Maybe Lord Gareth was misunderstood. I met him once, though, and your lady mother and you brother and sister when they were still children."

"What did you think?" she asked.

"Back then I thought I couldn't trust him as far as I could throw him, but now… I realize I may have been biased," he explained. "I was most surprised when my father suggested Renly should marry your sister one day."

Alexys tried not to look surprise. _Perhaps they should have let him marry my brother, if the tales are true_. That was a thought she never voiced, however. She was also smart enough to realize this might also just have been an excuse to change the topic to Lord Renly.

"You get on well with him, don't you?" Robert asked.

"He's been very kind to me," Alexys agreed. "He showed me around the castle and even proposed he take me to Highgarden one day."

Something in the king's facial expression changed at the mention of Highgarden (a voice in Alexys' head said 'knew it') but he tried not to let it show, however, the man was an open book.

"Would you like that?"

"Very much, Your Grace," she told him. "I have always wanted to see Highgarden. So did my brother Geamon. He was very fond of plants, Your Grace."  
>"Then I think I met your other brother at Aelborough that day. The lad was only nine, or a little older, but he was tall and broad and chopping small blocks of wood."<p>

"My brother Garrison," Alexys nodded, smiling sadly at his memory. "He and Geamon were always fighting. My father always liked to say that Garrison was the physical strength of the family and Geamon was the brain."

"I bet you never shed a single tear, not matter how much you missed them, didn't you?" Robert said.

"What good would tears do me?" Alexys shrugged. "It was money I needed to keep me alive, not sentiment."

The King patted her shoulder and said, "I'd say that was enough painful memories for the day. Come with me to today's joust, you can sit by my side and get drunk on boars and eat as much wine as you can- or is it the other way around?"

Even though she had to laugh, she warned him, "I don't know if the Queen will like it."

"She'll have to pretend to like it, as I have to pretend to like to watch her cocky twin brother steal the show," he said briskly.

Alexys laughed and she linked her arm with King Robert's as they descended down to where half the court and a lot of Gold cloaks were waiting for them. She decided the King was not as bad as she thought he was, and perhaps if she gave it some time she would grow as fond of him as she was of Lord Renly.

"What's with all the guards, why are there so many?" she asked said lord.

"We travel through the mob, through Flea Bottom," he explained. "They mostly behave but you never know, do you? There might be one moron in their midst."

Alexys let Lord Renly escort her through Flea Bottom, but even with him and half a dozen knights around her she felt naked without her sword or bow. She had forgotten to strap the dagger around her leg because King Robert had surprised her.

She saw the mob and she saw their emotion in their eyes and on their faces. They knew who she was, and she realized all too well what it looked like to them. She had been one of them once, among them and their saviour as well as their nightmare.

She had helped women by murdering their abusive husbands, helped little children who were forced to work by their parents by bringing them to an orphanage and she had even murdered corrupt lords who wouldn't pay for their night at the inn.

She had been a commoner as well as them, struggling to get by and united with the mob- but now she was among the corrupt and arrogant and rich highborn folk she used to pretend to hate as much as the rest of them.

It was a spark that had ignited within them, but the heat was not directed to her as much as it was to the King and his wife.

Looking back on this, Alexys should have seen it coming. She should have anticipated one of the mob would lash out and she should have been there sooner to prevent it.

She had not been paying attention, telling Renly about her conversation with Robert that morning, but all of a sudden there was a high-pitched scream and then a hell of a lot of noise.

The people were panicking, as were the knights and the people from the, there was a lot of chaos as the mob as well as the highborns circled around each other, screaming.

"Find her! Get her back!" she heard Queen Cersei shout.

"What's happening?" she asked Lord Renly, who was taller than her.

"A man- he took the princess," he explained to her. "They're trying to find her."

"If it was a man who knows the area they won't stand a chance," Alexys said desperately.

"What are you implying?" he said, eyebrows raised. "You're staying here. I'll defend you."

Alexys thought quickly, her head racing, and said, "Good luck doing that without a sword."

In a swift motion she twisted her elbow, hitting Renly in the nose, and unsheathed his sword from its belt, fought her way through the crowd and stopped with the first secret route she saw.

She had always knew she wasn't the only one who knew about the routes she used when she was still The Silent Arrow, and she hadn't been wrong in thinking the man would use them today.

It was hard climbing up and down with the sword in one hand, but she made her way through the maze of alleyways and eventually had the man cornered, though she knew the man of they City Watch shouldn't be very long from now, they would have a hard time getting up on the roof.

Even though Myrcella was obviously frightened, her eyes remained as hard as stone and she was clever enough not to struggle against the man, or they would both fall down fifteen feet at least.

"I'd hoped I wouldn't have to come across you, but you don't frighten me," the man said. "I would almost have made it if you hadn't showed up, but the men of the City Watch will never make it in time. So when I'm past you-"

"I have a sword, as well as you," Alexys reminded him.

People had noticed by now what was going on, and she saw the audience did not only exist out of knights, but the King and Queen were also among them. So was Renly, holding his bleeding nose. He did not look pleased.

"Let Myrcella go, and we'll settle this," she proposed. "If you kill me, as you said, the City Watch will never catch you in time. If I kill you- well, you said I didn't frighten you, so I'd say you're good."

"Alexys-"

Renly's voice could be heard from down there, a threatening tone in it. But also a worried one.

"Fine," the man answered, grinning smugly and letting Myrcella go, who directly moved to stand behind Alexys.

"I hope your sword if sharp, Lord Renly," she called down.

Then she said, softer, to Myrcella, "I'd better take a step back if I were you, princess."

The man charged first and Alexys was very, very pleased to see his surprise when she blocked his first blow. They danced around each other, lashing around every once in a while the steel kissed, and she liked the clashing sound of it.

She missed this so much, the one on one with a real sword.

It suddenly felt like she was back in the yard in Aelborough again, she and Ser Steffon circling around each other.

"Duck, jump and charge, my lady," he'd advised her. "You may never be stronger than them, but with a sharp sword and a swift motion, you should be able to win every battle."

Her real opponent in the present seemed not so happy with her. Alexys had already managed to cut him thrice, small cuts in his face and on his chest, which made his shirt stick to his body with not only sweat but also blood.

"Bloody bitch," she heard the man mutter.

_You've played with him long enough,_ she told herself. Now finish him off and show him who's the boss. Quick, agile and surprising.

She stepped forward, ducked the coming blow and stabbed the man in his knee. He fell down, resting on the other one, as Alexys swung the sword above her head in a full circle and then lowered it, taking the criminal's head in one go.

With a content smile she watched the head fall down and land in the middle of the crowd, and she turned around and offered the princess a hand with getting down.

Once she had gotten down, she had only gotten a fraction of a second to watch at King Robert, smiling and clapping when to strong arms suddenly closed around her and a hand pressed her head against a chest covered in a velvet doublet.

Only when she was sure she felt blood (not her own) gushing down her forehead she realized it was Renly and she laughed, pushing a small cloth to his nose to stop the bleeding.

"Sorry about that, my lord," she smiled at him.

"Do you know how worried I was?" he told her. "What if that man had- or you'd fallen- or-"

"Cut it off, Renly, she did wonderfully," the King said. "No one ever told me you were as good with a sword as you are with a bow."

"Thank you, Your Grace," she said, doing a curtsy.

She handed Renly the sword, covered in dried blood.

"It's a good one," she told him. "I like the balance of it; but most importantly it's nice and sharp."

"Lady Blackburn," said a female voice.

Alexys turned around and was surprised to see the Queen, and more surprised to find out that Her Grace actually thanked her for what she did.  
>There was still no trust between the two of them, but for now the enmity had perished. Had Alexys finally won her way into everyone's heart, and more importantly, more power?<p> 


	8. Seven: On to Highgarden

**Hi everyone! I know this seems like a short chapter but Alexys meets Margaery, Loras AND Olenna Tyrell for the first time so enjoy!**

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>Seven: On to Highgarden<strong>_

**ALEXYS**

She could not describe the ecstasy she felt when she was finally given boiled leather again, instead of silk. Instead of long, pretty gowns she donned tight breeches, the cotton top and leather corset again. Like the old days. Even her bow and arrows were returned to her.

To any other a change of clothes might not have meant as much, but to her it showed the court trusted her enough to put weapons in her hand again. And she could truly serve the King.

In the mirror she braided her hair, so a blood red braid fell over her right shoulder. She finally looked like Alexys Blackburn again, for the first time in years.

But her fourteenth nameday was but a moon's turn away, and in these years Alexys Blackburn had disappeared from the world she had grown, developed womanly curves and flowered.

Although, the agony she felt when looking in the mirror was beyond words. The blood red hair, the sea green eyes, these traits she had shared with her father and her brothers.

Even though she had never imagined to resemble her mother or sister, perhaps it was only the look in her eyes, the womanly aura around her that reminded herself of them too.

Gareth, Rhyssa, Garrison, Geamon, Audrea. What would they think of her if they were to see her the way she lived today? Would they be proud of her?

But she had not had time to dwell on the past for too long, as Lord Renly had come to visit her in her chambers, telling her not only he would be taking her to Highgarden, she would meet his squire Loras and his sister Margaery, the latter even happened the have the same nameday as Alexys herself.

So, all in all, Alexys could not find herself sad anymore as she would be celebrating her fourteenth nameday in Highgarden, together with Lord Renly and as an honoured guest for the Tyrells.

"An honoured guest?" she'd said to Renly, raising her eyebrows. "What did you say to them?"

"How do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know, perhaps something like 'she's a sellsword, but she's great company, I promise you, Lord Tyrell.'"

Renly arched an eyebrow.

"I told them Lady Blackburn was alive and that she would be honoured to celebrate her nameday together with Lady Margaery," he said, "You are a lady, not a sellsword. You are Alexys Blackburn, remember?"

_Am I?_ she thought. _I might look like her again, but that does not mean I feel like her.  
><em>

"You're right, my lord," she lied. "I forgot."

"You don't have to call me 'my lord' anymore," Renly said. "I should think we are beyond that. I'd like to think we are friends."

Alexys felt herself smile. Something in her had been afraid he still regarded her as a child, but she supposed when he saw her murder that man he didn't anymore. That was when she realized that she had never wished for anyone to see her as a lady but for someone to see her as an equal.

The way toward Highgarden was long, but Alexys found plenty ways to amuse herself. She had now fully accepted Renly into her heart, and even found herself talking to him about her family, what she had felt like during the fire.

"I saw them murder my Septa," she confessed to him. "I saw a man plunging a knife into her chest and another slitting her throat."

"Alexys-" Renly started, but the words got caught in his throat.

"She was the only one I saw being killed," she said quickly. "I heard my sister scream, though."

"You were one-and-ten," he said. "I'm so sorry."

"There's no need to be sorry," Alexys shrugged. "You're not the one to blame- and besides, it won't get them back."

The nights that followed the sacking of Aelborough was not discussed anymore. Alexys felt glad she had spoken to Renly about it. She felt like she good tell him anything, and telling her story had honestly felt good. Closure, at last.

They were getting nearer and nearer to Highgarden, and the morning of their arrival Renly had come to see her, bearing gifts. He gave her a green dress of soft silk that hugged her body, and had its own elegant way of showing she was a woman grown, with its deep cleavage and the bottom of her back left bare.

Alexys decided she liked green; the colour suited her better than Blackburn's red or black ever had.

She was also given a gold choker that fit snugly around her neck, with an emerald setting that somehow matched the queer green of her eyes.

"How can I ever thank you?" she said breathlessly.

"For what? Making sure you look the part of Lady Blackburn as well as embodying it?" he laughed.

She rolled her eyes at him.

"Why don't we settle with you being good company at the feast tonight?" he grinned.

"How will that ever compensate for you taking me to Highgarden, have me celebrate my nameday together with Lady Margaery- not to mention the dress-"

"So my brother can give you dresses and I can't?"

"You do have better taste," Alexys smiled.

The moment she, Renly and his company arrived at Highgarden is one she would never forget. Even the view of it had been amazing. Tall, white and flowers were blooming everywhere. It looked like the kind of castle her sister would be dreaming of when she was little.

The one who had been waiting for them down at the gates had to be Loras. With his light brown curls and baby blue eyes, and especially the cheeky smile made him as handsome as people told each other he was.

"Loras!" said Renly merrily, smiling broadly at him. "I'd like you to meet my charming companion, Alexys of house Blackburn."

Alexys did her best curtsy, and said shyly, "It's nice to finally be able to put a face to all the stories Renly told me."

"And you are every bit as beautiful as Lord Renly described in his letters, my lady."

The soft female voice she heard was an familiar one. She turned around to gaze upon the source of it, and Alexys was just startled.

If Loras had been handsome, his sister was just breathtakingly stunning. Her brown hair consisted out of soft, long, shiny curls beyond counting. Her eyes- they were light blue, and full of liveliness and intelligence, and her mouth-

Alexys blushed. She had never once caught herself looking at another girl like that. Also, she could not ignore the fact she had just called Alexys beautiful.

She'd never been called beautiful before. Audrea was always the pretty one. Alexys was always told she could have been beautiful, if not for the fact her hair looked like blood and her eyes were the weirdest shade of green.

Even with the dress, and the golden choker with the emerald Renly had given her, she could not help but feel like a wallflower next to who she supposed was Margaery.

Renly's host was clearing away into the castle, only a few guards remaining.

"You must be Lady Margaery," said Alexys, forcing herself to speak.

"Call me Margaery," the girl answered with a sweet smile. "I am sorry for your losses."

It took Alexys awfully long to figure out what she had meant, when it occurred to her. Alexys' family. It was the first time someone ever had been sorry for her losses.

"Come, let me show you the gardens, you can meet my grandmother, the Lady Olenna."

"You're already stealing her away from me, are you, my lady?" said Renly, smiling at Margaery and placing a hand on Alexys' shoulder.  
>He sighed.<p>

"Never mind me, show her the gardens. Loras, would you be so kind as to take me to the Sept?"

So Loras and Renly went one way, and Margaery and Alexys went the other. Alexys was aware of the goosebumps on her arm when Margaery took it, but the Tyrell girl had only smiled and chatted about the preparations for the feast tonight.

"Do you like flowers?"

Alexys was startled by the question. She spun her head in Margaery's direction and she saw those baby-blue eyes staring back at her, brown eyebrows raised slightly and pink lips curled into an expectant smile.

"I suppose you're not used to seeing them," said Margaery quickly. "I don't thinthere were many where you came from."

"No," Alexys said. "But there were these little purple flowers that would grow up on the trees. The first time I saw real, big flowers was when Renly showed me the rose garden in King's Landing."

"It's impossible for me to imagine," confessed Margaery. "I grew up amidst roses, fruit trees and sunlight. I grew up amidst costume festivals, big plates filled with marvellous looking food and a family who loved me. I grew up in the sun."

_And I grew up in the darkness_, thought Alexys, never being more envious of Margaery than at that point.

"But I bet you don't know how to shoot a bird out of the sky with an arrow," said Alexys, grinning.

The Tyrell girl's eyes widened in awe, and she said in an excited whisper, "Can you do that?"

Then she seemed to get a grip on herself again. She blushed, her unblemished skin colouring the lightest shade of pink.

"Yes, I can," said Alexys, not knowing anything better to say.

"Will you teach me?"

Alexys frowned and looked at the other girl again. She clearly remembered King Robert telling her she would be damned if she let Myrcella touch a bow.

"Only if your father would let me."

"He will," said Margaery, smiling, "because it will please me."

This time the Tyrell girl grasped Alexys' hand.

"But first we must needs see my grandmother," she said cheerfully. "She doesn't like to be kept waiting."

Margaery's grandmother was an old lady with a kind smile, clad in light blue with golden roses embroidered on her skirt, and she also wore something blue on her head. The same thing as Septa's would wear, and Alexys had never known what it was called.

Smiling sweetly at the old lady, Alexys did a curtsy, and said, "Lady Olenna, I'm very honoured to meet you."

"You've got good manners for a sell-sword," said Olenna Tyrell abruptly.

"Grandmother," Margaery half-laughed, half-warned.

"I've been told, my lady," Alexys said in form of a reply, though rather stiffly.

"Speaking of manners, I completely seem to have forgotten mine," the old lady said. "I'm sorry for your losses. No child should have to go through that, especially not at your age. Let us not forget, after the horror of the fire, you also had to take care of yourself all alone. But I suppose being an honoured guest in the Red Keep makes up for those years of misery."

Alexys nodded.

"I am extremely grateful that His Grace, King Robert and his brother Lord Renly have treated me with such kindness and respect."

"I am sure my son would also like to contribute to your newfound happiness," the old woman sighed. "He's spent even more than usual on tonight's feast- the expenses have nearly doubled, I'd say. Though of course the reasons to celebrate have also doubled."

A genuine smile appeared on Alexys' face, quickly being followed by a genuine laugh.

"Will you join me?" said Margaery, extending her hand again. "The feast will begin shortly."

Alexys took her hand and let herself be escorted.

* * *

><p><strong>Next chapter will have far more action and will be a very, very important one... Curious yet? BTW, reviews are most appreciated :)<strong>


	9. Eight: Another Morning Stroll

**Sorry I know this has been on hiatus for sooo long but I had little inspiration and this fic didn't really seem to get as much attention as my other ones. Here is another chapter, might be a tad shorter than the ones you're used to, but there is loads of flashbacks in here, so I hope you'll like that.  
>I decided to move forward a bit, next chapter will be the beginning of season one. Alexys is sixteen now, and the flashback will show what happened in Highgarden the remainder of the time, and also something from her past. Enjoy and leave a review!<strong>

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><p>Eight: Another Morning Stroll<p>

** ALEXYS**

"It is still early, Alexys," said Renly.

"I couldn't sleep," admitted Alexys. "We're going to Winterfell. I've always wanted to go to Winterfell."

"Don't be too excited," chuckled Renly, "it's mostly very cold out there."

"I wish you would come with us," she sighed.

"You're one-and-six now," he said amusedly, "some girls of your age are betrothed."

Alexys made a face.

"I don't have any property, I thought that at least meant people wouldn't be forcing me into marriage."

"_I'm_ not forcing you into anything," the youngest Baratheon shrugged. "Cersei, however-"

"Cersei doesn't get to decide whom I marry," Alexys said calmly. "She's my Queen, but my love life- or lack of it- is entirely my own."

"I should have known," grinned Renly. "Let me guess, you want to marry for love?"

Alexys flushed.  
><em><br>_

* * *

><p><em>"I hoped you tried the dried fruits, they're my favourites,"<em> _said Margaery. "They grow on our land, but the way they've been dried is a Myrenese tradition."  
><em>

_Her long, thin fingers stroked the petals of a white rose she was holding.  
><em>

_"Oh!" she chirped excitedly. "There's a place I've yet to show you. There."  
><em>

_She pointed.  
><em>

_Alexys looked, and across from the flower garden was a tower, not too high, covered in poison ivy and roses.  
><em>

_She felt Margaery's warm, tiny hand wrap around hers again, and the other girl's laughter ringed through the yard like a thousand little bells.  
><em>

_The stairs were few, and Alexys was used to much more, living in the Red Keep, and the tower was empty, with a wooden floor, the statues of their gods placed under the two windows.  
><em>

_One window looked out on the rose garden they'd just been walking in, the other on a smaller one, which was part of Renly's chambers. And there, Alexys didn't even have to squint to be able to see it, was Loras, wearing nothing but breeches that weren't properly done.  
><em>

_Renly appeared as well, wrapping his arms around Loras' stomach, closing the space between them, pecking Loras on his cheek.  
><em>

_Alexys was breathing heavily. Sure she'd heard rumours, but she hadn't expected them to hold any truth...  
><em>

_"I thought..." she muttered.  
><em>

_"Oh, that," Margaery said casually. "Everyone knows, no one has a problem with it, and they still think they've kept it a secret."  
><em>

_She laughed.  
><em>

_"And you- you don't mind?" asked Alexys.  
><em>

_Margaery looked her straight in the eye. She raised one perfect brown eyebrow, the same colour as her wavy locks of hair.  
><em>

_"Do you?"  
><em>

_"N-no," she found herself saying.  
><em>

_She looked out the window again, where Loras and Renly were now kissing so deeply it made her gulp.  
><em>

_"I've seen it before," she confessed, "although I must admit I was too young to understand back then, I can't have been older than six..."  
><em>

_She looked back to Margaery, who was smiling again.  
><em>

_"Good," she giggled.  
><em>

_Then she kissed Alexys._

* * *

><p>"I don't think I want to marry at all," she said quickly.<p>

"You may not have property, but you are still a lady of Aelborough," Renly said. "You have a name and a status."

"I am the last Blackburn in the world, I'll imagine they'll be lining up for me," she snorted.

"Ned Stark has a son," he pointed out.

"A bastard boy, too," said Alexys. "Listen, other girls my age may be betrothed or even married, but other girls my age usually also have the majority of their family present and do not even know how to hold a sword or a bow."

"I've had a fur coat made for you," said Renly. "It is completely white."

"Thank you," smiled Alexys. "I have only ever been in Aelborough and King's Landing, where it is usually warm. Also, the coat will camouflage me with all the snow."

Renly laughed.

"Then I hope you are able to shoot from horseback, because there will probably not be much time for hunting."

"Horseback?" Alexys repeated. "_Horse_back?"

"Don't tell me you have never ridden a horse before."

"I never liked them, they never liked me," she said nervously. "There was never any need to get near them, I cannot climb trees or forest paths with a horse, and when I ran, I did everything on foot..."

"If you travel to Winterfell by foot, you will be an old woman before you reach Winterfell," Renly laughed.

"You're making fun of me," said Alexys hotly, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Forgive," he said, but continued on laughing. "I just never imagined- you, the big bad sellsword- that you would be scared of horses."

Alexys flushed even more.

"I'm _not_ scared," she told him, "I just never learned how to ride."

"Because you were afraid of them."

"It's pointless, arguing with you," sighed Alexys. "Thank you again for the fur coat."

"Try not to be too charming when you get there," he smirked, "the Stark boy won't be able to contain himself."

Alexys rolled her eyes, returning to her chambers to collect the fur coat. She stroked the soft, pale white fur with her fingers.

_At times like this, he is just like Garrison_, she thought to herself. _Maybe they should have gotten married after all_, she added darkly, as an afterthought.

* * *

><p><em>Alexys gripped the rough bark of the tree tighter, curious and frightened. She was not even six years old, and yet she could tell she was not supposed to stand her, watching, hiding behind the big old tree in a dark, quiet part of the woods.<br>_

_Her brother, with his distinctive dark, red hair, and his sea green eyes, but they were closed, as he was living the moment. His big arms (like tree trunks, ironically, her family being so attached to the forest) wrapped around the tall, lanky stable boy with hair like the straw in those same stables.  
><em>

_The stable boy might have been tall, but no one was taller than Garrison, and the other lad had to stand on his toes. Their mouths were moving against her other, not brief, the way Alexys had seen her parents kiss, but on-going and moving and opening and closing.  
><em>

_A branch cracked.  
><em>

_Alexys was afraid it had been her, because both boys had broken apart and stood paralyzed, looking in her direction with big eyes, but the man behind her was the man that had caused that reaction.  
><em>

_It was Ser Steffon, not looking as old and tired as he had on the day of his death. His wrinkles were fewer and his hair, still cropped short, held more black than grey.  
><em>

_"Alexys, go back to the keep," he said curtly, his voice colder than she had ever heard before.  
><em>

_"Why?" she protested, pouting.  
><em>

_Pouting always worked with her parents, and usually it did with Ser Steffon. It usually made him smile, but not this time.  
><em>

_"Your choice," he said, his voice cold as ice, his tone dark. "I would advise you not to look."  
><em>

_"Ser Steffon, please-" croaked Garrison. "Father-"  
><em>

_"Your lord father, I doubt he would disagree with me," said the knight darkly. _

* * *

><p>Garrison was strong, and much more so than Ser Steffon. Yet Alexys had remembered him sitting at the dinner table that evening, his lip swollen, with one black eye.<p>

The stable boy, Alexys had never seen him again. She hoped he had fled, or that he had been sent away, but she lived in Aelborough, and in Aelborough lived the Blackburns. Blackburns were not soft.

She didn't think her father had ever found out about what had happened. Garrison had told them he had slipped during the hunt. She'd known better, of course.

* * *

><p>"<em>Alexys."<br>_

_Garrison's voice was dry, his swollen lip was chapped and his black eye had started to swell as well, allowing him to see only through the other one.  
><em>

_"Alexys, you have to promise not to tell anyone."  
><em>

_"Tell what?" said Alexys, looking at her big brother, wide-eyed.  
><em>

_"What you saw," said her brother, his voice low.  
><em>

_"I saw Ser Steffon beating you with his hands," said Alexys, showing him her own tiny hands, "I thought you were going to beat him. You always beat everyone."  
><em>

_"This wasn't a match," he sighed.  
><em>

_"Then you have to tell Father!" she gasped.  
><em>

_"_Don't_ tell Father!" snapped Garrison. "You don't tell Father, do you hear me?"  
><em>

_Alexys pouted, frustrated.  
><em>

_"But if you say it wasn't a match-"  
><em>

_"The fault is mine, not his," her brother said, his voice shaky. "He was punishing me."  
><em>

_"You didn't do anything wrong!" said Alexys, stamping on the floor with her foot.  
><em>

_Then her eldest brother did something she had never seen him do before; he started to cry. Garrison broke out in violent sobs, his big, toned shoulders shocking.  
><em>

_"You didn't," she repeated, feeling a bit lost.  
><em>

_He cried even harder, if possible, and he wrapped his big arms around her, lifted her up and pulled her close.  
><em>

_"Y-you d-d-don't tell a-anyone," he sobbed, finally.  
><em>

_She nodded against his chest. _

* * *

><p>"Lady Alexys?"<p>

She jumped, and turned around, drawing her sword.

Someone from the King's Guard stood there with his mouth open, the tip of her sword against his armour. Alexys removed it quickly, sheathing it again.

"My apologies," she said, trying to smile. "Old habits."

"The King would like to let you know he is ready to depart," the knight breathed, clearly still recovering from the shock.

Alexys nodded and grabbed the fur coat.

"On to Winterfell, then."


	10. Nine: Summer Snows

**Hiya I'm back peoples ! Happy reading and let me know what you think through reviews! Season 5 has made me inspired again, so expect some new stuff coming up SOON. If you see anything you recognize from S1E1, it's from transcript and obvs not mine. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Nine: Summer Snow<strong>

**ALEXYS**

"Your Grace," The Lord of Winterfell said in his solemn voice.

King Robert cracks up. "You've gotten fat."

To Alexys' surprised Lord Stark smiled, something she wouldn't have thought him capable of. Next to him was his wife, whom Alexys knew used to be a Tully, with her long auburn hair in a braid and blue eyes, and they were surprisingly cold.

The only child who had taken after her was their eldest daughter, a pretty young girl with bright red hair, bright blue eyes and a vacant smile. Was this how girls her age were supposed to look?

The eldest boy did have his mother's eyes, but his hair was dark and curly. Then there were two kids with dark brown hair and brown eyes, and the smallest one had lighter brown curls, but their eyes were the same.

Alexys could hear Queen Cersei and her children descend from the coach, and she could hear the smallest Stark girl whisper, "Where's the Imp?"

"Will you shut up?" snapped her older sister.

"Who do we have here?" said the King, inspecting the oldest Stark boy. "You must be Robb."

He turned to the redheaded girl. "My you're a pretty one," and then he asked her sister, "Your name is?"

"Arya," said the girl boldly, making Alexys grin.

She used to be like that, but growing up a lady, the girl would learn to be more respectful, like she had.

Arya saw I was grinning at her, and poked her sister, muttering, "Who's she?"

"Will you _shut up_?" the girl repeated, more pointedly this time.

Then suddenly, Robert said, "Take me to the crypt."

"We've been riding for a month, my love," said Cersei. "Surely the dead can wait."

Alexys caught Robert's eye, and she knew why he wanted to go so badly. _Lyanna._ He looked back to Lord Stark.

"Ned."

Cersei looked furious, and Alexys knew that it must be hard for her, knowing your husband would always love a dead girl more than you. There was no love lost between the Queen and herself, but after she shaved Myrcella neither one could say they hated each other.

"Sansa, why don't you show the princess around?" said Lady Stark, her lips pursed.

Alexys wondered that was her natural face, or if she knew exactly who Alexys was. A backstabber, a murderer, and worst of all, a Blackburn. She wouldn't be surprised if it had been House Tully that had ransacked her home and killed her family. If it was, she was content to let Catelyn Tully know she had failed.

"If Lex comes with me," said Myrcella, closing her hand around Alexys'.

Alexys did her best not to look surprised, but then again, she was almost the only girl around the princess growing up, and she had saved her life that time.

"Of course I will," she smiled. "Anything for you, princess."

"I can take you to our sowing lessons," said Sansa, although she did not seem too impressed by Myrcella or Alexys.

"I like sowing," said Myrcella happily. "It helps me take my mind off things. Although, Alexys is no good. She's never learned."

"But my mother said you were a lady before your family got killed?"

It was Arya, not even bothering to blush.

"My father taught me how to shoot with bow and arrow and how to wield a sword, how to sing songs and be respectful," replied Alexys. "He said that was all a lady needed to know."

"I hate sowing lessons," confessed Arya. "I want to learn how to shoot, it's so unfair they're teaching Bran and he has a horrible aim-"

"_Arya_!" shrieked Sansa.

"Good aim rarely comes naturally," Alexys said calmly. "No matter how hard you practice, some people learn how to shoot the wrong way, and their aim will never be perfect."

"Is your aim perfect?" asked Arya.

"Yes, it is!" Myrcella answered for her. "I've seen it!"

Alexys smiled, "Alas, I never did learn how to sow..."

Myrcella and Arya cracked up, but Sansa was scowling, thinking she was being mocked.

"I've always wanted my hair to be red like yours," Alexys said, trying to make amends. "Bright red, not dark. You're a beautiful girl, Sansa. I've seen the prince looking at you."

It seemed to work; Sansa flushed and smiled shyly.

"I would like to have you as my sister," said Myrcella. "I've never had a sister before, just Alexys."

Alexys chuckled. The princess was the closest thing to a sister she'd ever have. The girl was small, kind, and brave. She knew how to please and keep her emotions in check, and she was nice but always genuine. She would not hesitate to give her life for that girl, who was so young, and still a better person than herself.

Sowing lessons were a bore, as always, but Alexys found that little Arya sparked her interest. She couldn't have been more different from Sansa. She had no interest in sowing or dresses or singing, but she wanted to shoot and fight.

Alexys wasn't like Myrcella, though. She couldn't lose her thoughts in the craft, so she didn't bother trying, so she just watched the princess and complimented her work, and now and then she stared outside at the summer snow, shivered and wrapped her white fur around her tighter.

Winterfell was beautiful, but she wasn't used to the cold. Yet, seeing the snow on the trees and the wide green plains could take her breath away once she let herself look at it properly.

Her attention was drawn away from the window by loud noises. She turned around and saw the Arya had flung her work to the ground in argument with her Septa and her sister. Small lady Stark stormed out, and Alexys saw Myrcella was looking at her.

"Sisters do fight sometimes," Alexys told her, smiling a little.

"But they still love each other, don't they?" the princess asked.

"Of course they do, princess," said Alexys. "They're family."

"Did you and your sister fight?"

"All the time," she replied, feeling a lump in her throat.

"Did you still love her?"

"Still do, princess, still do."

Myrcella smiled.

"Apologies, Your Grace," said the Stark-Septa. "Maybe it would be a good idea if everyone were to prepare for the feast tonight."

Myrcella went with her maids that were at the door, ready to get changed.

Alexys said goodbye to Sansa and her Septa and went outside, seeing Arya and a dark-haired boy look at two other boys who were practicing with blunt swords in the yard. She decided to approach them.

"My lady," she greeted Arya.

"Lady Alexys," said the boy who was sitting next to her.

He had dark hair like his brother Robb, but he did not have Lady Catelyn's eyes. Alexys could make the leap.

"You must be Jon Snow," she said.

"I am, my lady," he replied, with a dignified sort of look.

How could he not be Ned Stark's son, she thought, with that solemn face of his. He looks more like a Stark than any of the other children.

"You don't have to call me my lady, Jon," Alexys said. "I belong to a family that used to be important and own land. Now I'm just in service of His Grace."

She could see Arya looking at the dagger that was inside her belt.

"Don't you have a sword?" the girl asked.

"I do," Alexys nodded. "I just see no need to carry it now. Swords aren't really my style, anyway. You see them coming."

"Just like arrows," said Jon Snow, before he'd realized he'd opened his mouth.

"You don't need to get close for an arrow, though, do you?" grinned Alexys, enjoying watching him squirm.

He recognized the look he was giving her all too well. People had looked at her father like that. It was the look that accused all Blackburns of being sneaky, backstabbing, manipulative criminals.

"You don't play fair, because you know you're not strong enough," a riverlord had once said to her father.

"I don't care who's stronger," her father had said coldly, "I care who wins."

Alexys smiled at Jon Snow, not really meaning it.

"I'll see you tonight, Jon," she said, trying to sound as pleasant as possible. "Oh, and Lady Arya? If your eyes see where the arrow needs to go, your hands will feel it. Aim with your eyes, not your hands."

The girl seemed confused, causing Alexys to smile. She'd figure it out, someday. With an iron will like that she would certainly go places.

* * *

><p>Alexys was just as much pleased Robert had apparently arranged for her to have her own chambers, which seemed more warm than the sowing room, thank the Seven. She took off her coat, when a maid came into her room. She was from Winterfell, obviously, pretty for a commoner, with round brown eyes and dark hair.<p>

One look and she knew who Alexys was. The blood-red hair was hard to miss, Alexys supposed.

She raised her eyebrow when she saw the maid had come bearing gifts. A dress in beautiful dark blue colour hung over the maid's arm.

"His Grace asked me to dress you, Lady Blackburn," the maid said, bowing her head.

"Leave the dress here," she said.

"But-" the maid stuttered.

Alexys realized it might be a tad odd not to let the maid touch her. Bloody Margaery, she thought. She started this.  
>Nothing's changed, she convinced herself.<p>

"Fine," sighed Alexys.

The girl curtsied and placed the dress on the bed carefully, and went to undo the knot on her leather corset. Alexys closed her eyes and not to make the shiver noticeable to the maid.

When the girl moved to take off the shirt that was the last thing covering her upper body, Alexys' hands shot to the maid's wrist in a reflex.

"M'lady?" she asked.

"I have scars," muttered Alexys, which was true, but not the reason she had panicked.

"So do I, m'lady," said the maid, revealing a burn scar on her left hand.

Alexys nodded, trying to ignore, the soft hands touching her skin while lifting the shirt over her head.

"Are you cold, m'lady?"

She resisted to urge to smack herself.

"I'm not used to snow and ice," she said.

She was glad when the maid was finally lacing up her dress.

"Are you really as good as they say?" the maid whispered, finally.

"I think that depends on what you've heard," laughed Alexys, glad it was finally over.

"I've heard you can shoot a bird of the air and hit it in the eye," said the maid.

"That I can do," nodded Alexys. "Anything else?"

"Did you really kill thirty-eight Goldcloaks?"

She nodded again. That was a long time ago. She wasn't proud of it, but like all things, she had done them to survive.

The maid seemed shocked and excited at the same time. Her cheeks were flushed and she stared at Alexys as if she had never quite seen something before.

"I wouldn't ask such things to anyone, do you understand?" said Alexys, who couldn't help but smile. "I could think of a few people who would think you were very rude."

The maid nodded, still flushed.

"My mother used to say scars weren't ugly, that they were stories written on our bodies," she said. "And that everyone has them, you just can't always seen them. And they don't make you any less beautiful, m'lady."

"Thank you," Alexys said, amused. "There I was, thinking all Northeners were sullen and silent."

The maid curtsied again and left.

* * *

><p>Alexys left her chambers to go to the feast, when she found none other than Tyrion Lannister lying against the wall outside her chambers.<p>

The last time they had spoken was when she got arrested. He had been at Casterly Rock for the majority of the time, of course, but there was also the fact he was a dwarf and a drunk and frequented brothels most of his time in King's Landing. Lord Lannister wasn't exactly passed out yet, but he had obviously been drinking. She could smell.

"Lord Tyrion," she said heartily.

"Lady Alexys," he said, straightening himself and standing up. "I must say, you look ravishing."

"Thank you, my lord," she said. "Aren't you supposed to be preparing for the feast?"

"I will not be attending," he replied. "I would look even more unpleasant next to my beautiful brother and sister."

She didn't really know what to say to that.

"Not even for the wine?" she tried, causing him to chuckle.

"I would be happy to escort you right until the doorstep," he said, "although I do not imagine you would want to."

"It would be my honour," she responded.

His chuckle disappeared and he looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not lying," she said quickly.

"Aren't you the one who said 'Courtesy kills as easily as a sword'?" asked Tyrion.

"My father said that," Alexys corrected him. "My family lived by those values. My family also consisted of more imperfections than you can imagine. I've learned to be untrusting of perfection."

That made him smile once more.

"Right until the doorstep," she said, extending her arm.

He linked his with it. She was relatively small, she suspected three years of not having enough to eat to have to do with that, so it worked without being too awkward.

"You're quite forward, my lady," he chuckled.

"So are you," she replied.

"Baratheon brothers like forward, don't they?" said the Imp. "Except for Stannis, I suppose-"

"What exactly are you implying, my lord?" she said, pretending to be oblivious.

People gossiped. She was a young girl, Renly was a handsome young man, and Robert had a reputation for liking girls other than his queen. She had caught him liking a couple up close on occasion, but the man was like a father to her, and Renly her dearest friend.

"If I have the proper measure of you, which is the case with most people, you are perfectly away of exactly what I'm implying," he chuckled.

"I don't do gossip," she cut him off.

"You're not even going to deny it?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I did," Alexys said plainly. "I'm from King's Landing."

Tyrion looked very, very amused.

"I like you, my lady" he said. "Why we've never spoken before is a mystery to me."

"You made reference to fucking me when we first met," she said, deciding being blunt or courteous would have the same effect anyways.

"Actually I made a reference to you being my whore," Lord Tyrion corrected her.

"Lord Tyrion, what exactly is it that you do with your whores?"

The Imp chuckled. Alexys could feel a shiver run through her body, actually from the cold this time. The dark-blue dress was beautiful, but did very little to keep out the cold.

She could spot Jon snow talking to a man in black.

"What's a man of the Night's Watch doing here?" she asked Lord Tyrion.

"Ned Stark's brother Benjen," he replied, as his eyes followed the man who went inside.

One of them was emerald green, Lannister-green, and the other was murkier and darker, nearly black in the pale light of the moon.

"You're uncle's in the Night's Watch," Tyrion said loudly, addressing Jon.

The bastard spinned around, seemingly surprised at who were approaching.

"What're you doing here?" he asked.

"Preparing for a night with your family," Tyrion dismissed simply, continuing on a more interested note, "I've always wanted to see the Wall."

"You're Tyrion Lannister," Jon remarked. "The queen's brother."

"My greatest accomplishment," responded the Imp, making Alexys' lips curl into a tight smile. "You – you're Ned Stark's bastard, aren't you?"

Like before in the yard, Jon Snow appears angry at the use of the word 'bastard', as he grunts and turns away.

"Did I offend you?" asked Tyrion, albeit mockingly. "Sorry. You are the bastard, though." "Lord Eddard Stark is my father."

"And Lady Stark is not your mother, making you a bastard," the Imp concluded simply. "Let me give you some advice, bastard. Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor. Then it can never be used to hurt you."

Alexys looked at the man in a whole new light.

"Who knew there was intelligence under those deep layers of insolence," she huffed, trying not to seem too impressed.

"What the hell do you know about being a bastard?" Jon snapped.

"All dwarves are bastards in their fathers' eyes," he replied simply. "Do you have anything to say, sell-sword?"

"Ex-sell-sword," she corrected him.

Renly had been trying so hard to remind her. The blood would never go off her hands, but it was in the past, just memories and stories and they couldn't haunt her anymore.

"Of course, my lady," said Tyrion, sounding awfully mocking somehow.

He escorted her up until the doorstep, as he told her he would, and bid her farewell, deciding not to kiss her hand as most lords would. She was glad.

* * *

><p>The hall in which the feast was held was pleasant, at least temperature-wise, and the smell of wine and food and merrymaking hung everywhere and entered her nostrils immediately.<p>

King Robert, who had been getting a little bawdy with a fat Northern wench stopped fondling her with one hand to beckon her over. She approached the table where the King and Queen were seated with the Starks.

"My thanks for the dress, Your Grace," she said, not bothering to do her appalling version of a curtsy.

"Have a drink, Alexys, let your damn hair down!" Robert bantered.

He was unlike any of the other people in King's Landing, the only person outside of Renly of whom she knew for certain carried not ulterior motives. Robert was a lonely man, who tried to fill the gaping hole in his chest. She could relate to that, and she reasoned that was why they worked well in each other's company. He'd always said he wanted a girl like her for his daughter.

The maid who had dressed her handed her a cup filled with wine with a shy smile. Alexys felt her lips curl upwards too, much to her disdain. She downed the entire contents in one go, coming to the conclusion that really nothing tasted better than the red Dornish Robert had in King's Landing.

"That's more like it!" said King Robert contently.

The maid filled Alexys' cup almost instantly, as she tried her best not to lock eyes. She could see some of the boys in the hall looking at her, Robb Stark and the sons of Ned's bannermen. She paid no more attention to the pretty maid and decided to go over to them. Winterfell and her summer snows were beautiful, but she found herself longing for Renly and King's Landing, or maybe if she was really honest with herself, she longed for those happy summer days she had spent at Highgarden.


	11. Ten: Home

**Hi I'm really so sorry it's been this long but I hope this still had readers :) Enjoy and reviews are appreciated.**

* * *

><p><strong>Ten: The Closest Thing to Home (isn't that pathetic?)<strong>

**ALEXYS**

Her stay in Winterfell, not unlike the trip back to King's Landing had been eventful to say the least, and neither of them had been very favourable to the Starks. In a short period they had lost two direwolves as a consequence of Joffrey being- well, Joffrey, and they were in danger of losing their son Bran.

She suspected there was more to it than an accident, but well aware it would be ill-advised to look into such things. She had been paid to assassinate one of Varys' spies one day, so she knew all too well that most people weren't appreciative of others snooping around.

Arya Stark had gone from bold to undeniably rude and unpleasant, and Sansa was so distraught over the loss of her direwolf she barely spoke and ate.

All in all, Alexys was incredibly happy when she could feel the wheels of the carriage pass the hump that was just outside the main city gate. Some small folk was out there, welcoming the royal family and their companions to the city.

Queen Cersei was absent, her eyes flicking between her children now and then, until they locked with Alexys'.

"Are you glad to be back, Your Grace?" she asked.

"Immensely," the Queen replied stoically. "I never liked the cold."

"I liked it," said Tommen, smiling broadly. "It was the first time I could play in the snow!"

Cersei's icy persona seemed to melt away even if just for that moment, looking fondly at her son. People could say a lot of nasty things about Cersei Lannister, and Alexys could come up with a few of the Queen's undesirable characteristics herself, but the least you could say of her was that she loved her children more than anything, and had made it her mission to be a good mother.

"Do you like King's Landing better or Winterfell?" asked Myrcella, looking at Alexys intently.

"King's Landing, of course, princess," she replied with an easy smile. "All my friends are in King's Landing."

Princess Myrcella looked gleeful, asking in an excited voice, "Did you know Father is going to organise a tournament?"

"He might have mentioned it, yes," Alexys said.

Robert loved tournaments. He would jump at the chance to organise one, making every cause a probable one. He'd even hosted one for Alexys' nameday once, an event which had caused some controversy.

"I hear the Knight of Flowers is going to be there," Myrcella said. "At least, that's what Uncle Renly told me."

Alexys had hoped Loras would come over. She had seen him only once after she had left Highgarden, and he would certainly spice things up at the tournament. Not only was he an exceptional fighter, he did it with impeccable elegance and grace; it was quite a sight to behold, and she normally didn't like tournaments.

Besides that, she knew it would make Renly very happy. Loras was also just good company, witty, just cocky enough for it to remain funny, and loyal as a puppy dog.

"I'll speak with Lord Renly about it," Alexys told the princess. "He could make arrangements with Ser Loras if they haven't been made already."

Myrcella looked happy enough. Alexys suspected the Queen only tolerated her company because the royal kids liked her.

"Will you be fighting?" Joffrey asked, his voice sending shivers down her spine still.

Alexys tried not to laugh at him.

"The way I fight-"

She tried to find a way to explain it.

"I'm not a knight, Prince Joffrey," she said, "I don't do lances, I do daggers. It's not elegant, it's not pretty. It's not meant for a tournament."

"Don't you miss it? The blood?" he asked, with an odd, sinister twinkle in his eyes.

"I am much happier serving the King, so that I do not have to look over my shoulder the entire time," Alexys answered, not having fully formed an answer to that question in her head.

Slashing her sword and being able to draw blood, having cut past someone's defences, regardless of her size or sex, made her feel more powerful than she would like to admit.

Queen Cersei seemed to find her answer funny, her green, leering eyes mocking her, saying, _Do you really think you are _safe_ in the Red Keep, foolish girl?_

* * *

><p>Renly had been waiting for her as the host from Winterfell entered the Great Hall.<p>

"Lady Alexys," he said cheerfully, as he always addressed her in public. "How was Winterfell?"

"Cold," she responded, with a sly smile.

Robert never bothered with such formalities, no matter what kind of company they found themselves in. People frowned upon that, but he was the King and in Robert's opinion a king was free to do however he pleased.

Renly opened his arms wide for Alexys to envelop herself into a hug, and as she placed her head on his shoulder and she could smell his hair, the smell of peaches and roses alike, he whispered, "How was Robb Stark?"

"Even colder," she replied, and she could feel his chest tremble as he chuckled.

The young Stark boy had been fascinated by her, and even though she could have easily pressed his buttons to prove a point, she hadn't. Robb Stark was as solemn and loyal as his father, and, quite frankly, just as boring.

Alexys and Renly broke loose from the hug, grinning to one other in the kind of fashion of people who were close to reading minds, as she felt a hand pat her shoulder rather roughly, and King Robert called out, "Alexys, you must convince my brother to go out hunting with me sometime!"

Renly hated blood. He hated blood and killing nearly as much as Robert loved it. Alexys knew the King meant well, but taking Renly on a hunt would probably result in him vomiting, like that time at the mêlée when a boy's eye was knocked out.

"I'll think about it, brother," Renly brushed off his king.

"You had better not refuse me again this time, it is good for brothers to hunt together and bond," said King Robert. "Alexys'll be there too, won't she?"

"If that would make you happy, then of course, Your Grace," she replied, earning a loud laugh and another rough pat on the shoulder from Robert, who proceeded to the Hand's Tower to speak with his new Hand.

"Shall we retreat to the rose gardens?" proposed Renly. "If you are not too tired from your journey, of course."

"Do you take me for an old lady, my lord?" Alexys said teasingly. "Of course I'm not tired."

"Of course you're not," he agreed, smiling at her.

The rose gardens were warm and colourful, her arm held by a trusted friend. She felt way more at ease here than Winterfell.

"I swear, this is the thousandth time Robert has threatened to take me hunting with him," groaned Renly.

"He clearly just wants to spend time with his little brother, form a bond," said Alexys, laughing at Renly's antics.

"You don't understand," he protested, dramatically. "Last time we were out there for two weeks - tramping through the trees in the rain, day after day. All so he can stick his spear into something's flesh!"

"What if I take up on your brother's offer and come with you, eh?" she suggested.

"Well, it would certainly be _slightly_ less unbearable."

"You say the kindest things, my lord."

Their laughter ringed through the yard, like two matching bells chiming. Alexys held Renly's hand. No words could describe how thankful she was to have people like Robert and him.

"Loras will ride to King's Landing for the Hand's tournament," he said, looking excited.

"Princess Myrcella had hoped as much. Although I don't believe anyone is as thrilled as you."

"He'd been my squire for years," Renly said defensively. "He was the only boy anywhere near my age when I grew up-"

"Stop acting like you have something to prove," she cut him off. "I know all this. I know how much he means to you."

Alexys left a tentative pause. It was important for him to know she was not his enemy. She wanted him to know he could tell her anything, but she did not want him to panic, she did not want him to know she knew the truth.

"About those rumours-"

"You heard those?" said Renly, some of the colour draining from his face. "Please don't tell me you believe in them- they are outright lies."

"I believe whatever you tell me to believe," said Alexys, thinking, _or at least I'll pretend to_. "I wouldn't care anyway, true or false."

"You should," said Renly somewhat stiffly, but the colour had returned to his face.

"Well, I don't," she told him defiantly.

Renly seemed to hesitate. His honest brown eyes seemed to be pleading to her. Pleading her to do what exactly? To not look repulsed?

"Blackburns," he muttered, with a somewhat shy smile, his eyes searching her face frantically to perceive any kind of reaction.

This was the closest Renly would go to admission, a clever move, both Varys- and Littlefinger-proof.

Alexys kissed Renly's cheek.

"Maybe I should teach you the bow and arrow," she said, "if you go hunting with those you can stay away far enough in order not to see blood."

"Maybe I should teach you how to ride a horse," Renly retorted.

Alexys' face went blank, before both of them laughed again.

* * *

><p>It was a sunny day, perfect for a tournament. She was sitting next to Renly in the stands, with Littlefinger on her other end and Ned and Sansa Stark in front of them.<p>

Loras' shining armour almost blinded her in the sunlight, as he rode up to the stands and presented Sansa with a rose, before sharing a look with Renly.

"Don't let Ser Gregor hurt him," she heard Sansa whisper to her father.

Alexys resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She found she liked the other sister better. This one was no match for King's Landing. She was too gentle, too innocent. A girl needed more than a pretty face to survive out here. She was a painful reminder of Audrea.

"100 gold dragons on the Mountain," said Littlefinger, looking at Renly intently.

"I'll take that bet," said Renly with a cheeky smile, having utter confidence in Loras.

"Now what will I buy with 100 gold dragons?" Littlefinger mused. "A dozen barrels of Dornish wine? Or a girl from the pleasure houses of Lys?"

"Or you could even buy a friend," Renly suggested.

Alexys had to bite back a giggle.

Littlefinger turned to her, looking far more amused than Alexys felt comfortable with.

"Oh, don't look at me," she said, "His Grace makes sure I don't lack for anything but I don't have that kind of coin."

"Maybe you should try working for a more profitable commander," whispered Littlefinger in a sly voice.

"Lord Baelish, I am perfectly satisfied with the way things are now," she replied. "Not to mention, your line of work is somewhat undesirable for someone of my stance."

"I could offer more versatile employment," he said, far too amused for her liking, "to someone of your stance. His Grace trusts you blindly-"

"Exactly," she cut him off, bitterly.

Loras and Ser Gregor meet each other halfway, and Loras' lance shatters the wooden shield of the Mountain. Renly rises, clapping and laughing jovially.

"Such a shame, Littlefinger," he jested. "It would have been so nice for you to have a friend."

Littlefinger's face twitched slightly, but turned into a sick grin as he had clearly formulated a comeback in his head.

"And tell me, Lord Renly, when will you be having your friend?"

He quite clearly indicated to Loras. As a result, Renly's smirk disappeared and he sat down, his jaw clenched, but he looked defeated.

Littlefinger seemed only too satisfied with this, and he leaned forward to the oldest Stark daughter, and told her, "Loras knew his mare was in heat. Quite crafty, really."

The Stark girl looked aghast.

"Ser Loras would never do that! There's no honour in tricks!"

Alexys only barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Starks and their damned honour. It would be the death of them someday. Then again, the Blackburns never cared much for honour, and it didn't do them any good...

"No honour, but quite a bit of gold," said Petyr Baelish, looking sideways at Alexys.

Alexys felt quite ready to give a snarky response, but before she could open her mouth a loud growl from the Mountain draws her attention back to the joust.  
>Ser Gregor rose from the ground, throwing off his helmet as he called for his sword. A scrawny little squire delivered one to him and with one mighty stroke he walloped of his horse's head.<p>

"Seems like you're not the only one that knows that move," said Littlefinger, barely audible.

Alexys is unable to answer, as she's barely able to look at the horse's body falling to the ground without squirming. She's definitely not squeamish when it comes to blood (an unhelpful quality for a sellsword that would make) but it's something else to cut off the head of something so innocent.

The crowd has gone quiet. Then, Gregor turns and moves on Loras, causing Alexys to raised from her seat only to find out Renly has hold of her wrist. His grip gets tighter as Loras is knocked off his horse and receives many a blow from the Mountain, with only his shield to protect him.

Alexys crouched down, ready to get her dagger from the band around her ankle, when she was startled by a deafening roar.

"Leave him be!"

None other than Sandor Clegane jumped down from the King's stand and engaged in a sword fight with his brother.

Then Robert rises, raising his voice.

"Stop this madness, in the name of your king!"

* * *

><p>"That turned out different than expected," said Alexys, dabbing Loras' bruises with a medicine mixture her mother had passed on to her.<p>

Thank the Seven for that, because there were times she was always covered in them.

"If I'd had a sword," Loras said. "I wouldn't have had to lie on the ground, utterly useless."

"Ser Gregor was out of line," Alexys said. "No one holds you at fault for what happened. Renly even won a hundred gold dragons because of your victory."

The Baratheon lord in question entered Loras' chambers, looking almost jealous at the display before him.

"That small council meeting took forever," drawled Loras.

"It was quite the meeting," said Renly. "Tensions arose, as to our course of action against the Targaeryen girl. She's with child."

"So how did it end up?" asked Loras. "The Targaryen girl will die?"

Alexys knew Robert had always hated the Targaryens with a vengeance. She also knew his hate was more than justified. However, the thought of murdering an innocent, pregnant girl on the other side of the sea seemed... wrong.

"It needs to be done, unpleasant as it is," said Renly. "Robert's rather tasteless about it. Every time he talks about killing her, I swear the table rises six inches."

"It's a shame he can't muster the same enthusiasm for his wife," said Loras.

"He does have a deep, abiding lust for her money," said Renly. "You have to give it to the Lannisters - they may be the most pompous, ponderous cunts the gods ever suffered to walk the world, but they do have outrageous amounts of money."

Alexys rolled her eyes and gathered her things. Renly was always different with Loras. With her he was gentler, less straight to the point.

"I'll let you boys catch up," she said, ready to leave.

"Of course, the Imp lord is your friend, isn't he?" asked Loras.

"He's different," she replied. "He's a bit of an outcast, like me."

"Thank you for taking care of me," said Loras. "You're a true friend."

He grinned.

"Even if I have to share you with the Imp."

Alexys felt herself smile. She hadn't felt this happy when she was out on the streets for those years, earning her blood money. She'd never imagined it, but even in King's Landing with all its liars, cheats and backstabbing nobles, she'd found the home she never thought she'd have after she lost her true one.


End file.
